Legends that libel Lincoln

$2.75
LEGENDS THAT LIBEL LINCOLN

by

Montgomery S. Lewis

This is a book written out of anger as
well as out of research.

Montgomery S. Lewis has read every-
thing that has been written about Abra-
ham Lincoln. He has compared all the
writing, and he has found three major
libels in the Lincoln story. These he has de-
termined to correct, and this he has done.
He believes these have largely grown out
of a desire to make the character of Lin-
coln still stronger, and that this is non-
sense, since Lincoln is authentically a
great man and needs no building-up.

Lincoln's father, Mr. Lewis shows, has
been steadily built down into a worthless,
mean and ignorant man in the effort to
make the son still more impressive. And
this Mr. Lewis insists is untrue ; Tom Lin-

( continued on back flap)

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M

LINCOLN ROOM

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY

MEMORIAL

the Class of 1901

founded by

HARLAN HOYT HORNER

and

HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER

LEGENDS THAT LIBEL LINCOLN

Digitized by the Internet Archive

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LEGENDS THAT
LIBEL LINCOLN

by MONTGOMERY S. LEWIS

*

Rinehart 6? Company

Inc.
New York • Toronto

COPYRIGHT, 1946, BY MONTGOMERY S. LEWIS

Printed in the United States of America

By J. ]. Little and Ives Company ; New York

All Rights Reserved

N

1>LS%JL

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Passages have been quoted from the following books by
special permission of the publishers:

THROUGH FIVE ADMINISTRATIONS by William H. Crook.
Copyright, 19 10, by Harper & Brothers.

MARY, WIFE OF LINCOLN by Katherine Helm. Copyright, 1928,
by Katherine Helm. Harper & Brothers.

REVEILLE IN WASHINGTON by Margaret Leech. Copyright, 1941,
by Margaret Leech Pulitzer. Harper & Brothers.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LINCOLNS by Ida M. Tarbell.
Copyright, 1924, by Harper & Brothers.

LINCOLN THE UNKNOWN by Dale Carnegie. Copyright, 1932, by
Dale Carnegie. D. Appleton-Century Co.

LINCOLN'S PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD by Louis A. War-
ren. Copyright, 1926, by The Century Co.

ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS by Robert E. Sherwood. Copyright,
1937, 1939, by Robert Emmet Sherwood. Charles Scribner's Sons.
LINCOLN AND HERNDON by Joseph Fort Newton. Copyright,
1910, by The Torch Press.

THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN by William E. Barton. Copy-
right, 1925, by The Bobbs-Merrill Company.

THE WOMEN LINCOLN LOVED by William E. Barton. Copy-
right, 1927, by The Bobbs-Merrill Company.

LINCOLN: An Account of His Personal Life by Nathaniel W. Ste-
phenson. Copyright, 1924, by The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
LINCOLN AND HIS WIFE'S HOME TOWN by William H. Town-
send. Copyright, 1929, by The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
TAD LINCOLN'S FATHER by Julia Taft Bayne. Copyright, 1931,
by Julia Taft Bayne. Little, Brown & Company.

LIFE ON THE CIRCUIT WITH LINCOLN by Henry C. Whitney.

Copyright, 1940, by The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd.

LINCOLN AMONG HIS FRIENDS by Rufus Rockwell Wilson.

Copyright, 1942, by The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd.

THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN by Eleanor Atkinson. Copyright,

1908, by The McClure Co.

vi Acknowledgments

MRS. ABRAHAM LINCOLN by W. A. Evans. Copyright, 1932, by
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

LINCOLN ON THE EVE OF '61 by Henry Villard. Copyright, 1941,
by Oswald Garrison Villard and Harold G. Villard. Alfred A. Knopf,
Inc.

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Charles Francis Adams. Copyright, 1916,
by The Massachusetts Historical Society. Houghton Mifflin Company.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 1809- 1858 by Albert J. Beveridge. Copyright,
1928, by Catherine Beveridge. Houghton Mifflin Company.
MARY TODD LINCOLN by Honore W. Morrow. Copyright, 1928,
by H. W. Morrow. William Morrow & Co.

THE HIDDEN LINCOLN by Emmanuel Hertz. Copyright, 1938, by
The Viking Press, Inc.

LINCOLN THE PRESIDENT by James G. Randall. Copyright, 1945,
by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc.

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN by
Henry B. Rankin. Copyright, 191 6, by Henry B. Rankin. G. P. Put-
nam's Sons.

INTIMATE CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
by Henry B. Rankin. Copyright, 1924, by J. B. Lippincott Company.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE PRAIRIE YEARS by Carl Sandburg.
Copyright, 1926, by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE WAR YEARS by Carl Sandburg.
Copyright, 1939, by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.
MARY LINCOLN: WIFE AND WIDOW by Carl Sandburg and Paul
M. Angle. Copyright, 1932, by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.

IN MEMORY

of my father who first taught
me to love Abraham Lincoln

Contents

Preface

I Giving New Life to Old Legends 3

II Legends Spring from the Dim Past 13

III Thomas Lincoln— Average Pioneer 36

IV The Legend of Ann Rutledge 85

V Mary Todd Lincoln, Helpmate— Her Spring-
field Years 10 1

VI Mary Todd Lincoln, Helpmate— Her White

House Years 153

Notes 209

Sources 227

Index 235

Preface

It may be said that this book tells nothing that is really
new, nothing that has not been known by Lincoln students
for many years. I freely admit this to be true, for all the
material used in this book has been gathered from sources
that are available to anyone. Lincoln students are ac-
quainted with the information that is presented here, al-
though I hope they will find that it is presented and
interpreted in a new manner. Unfortunately, however,
many who speak or write about Lincoln do not appear
to be acquainted with this information, nor does it seem
to be generally known. Many writers and speakers of
today still follow tradition, to a large extent, and thus help
to give new life to old legends and beliefs which persist
today in spite of knowledge gathered by painstaking stu-
dents after years of research. As a result, we still have a
picture of Abraham Lincoln that is inaccurate in several
respects. We also have pictures of Lincoln's father and
wife that are sadly distorted and most unjust to these two
members of his family, each of whom made definite con-
tributions to the development of Abraham Lincoln.

It has been my hope, in writing this book, that by
assembling, consolidating and co-ordinating information
presented by numerous students of Lincoln's life, I might
be able to give readers a viewpoint regarding certain
Lincoln legends that is new to them, and to give them
pictures of Thomas Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln that

xi

xii Preface

will cause them to realize how unfairly these two have
been dealt with by tradition. It is also my hope that some
readers may be led to go beyond this brief study to the
books of those Lincoln authorities who have made it pos-
sible for me to write this book.

I acknowledge my debt to those zealous students of
Lincoln's life. From their books I have gathered the in-
formation which I present. As to any conclusions or
opinions which I have formed and which I express, I
have no desire to hide behind the protective shield of
others. I, alone, am responsible for them. I also wish to
acknowledge my debt to those who have helped me in the
preparation of this book: to Paul M. Angle, Director of
The Chicago Historical Society, for helpful criticisms and
advice; to my brothers, Charles S. Lewis, Jr., and Edward
R. Lewis, to James W. Fesler, member of the Indianapolis
bar, and my friends Mr. and Mrs. Joseph T. McDermott,
of Indianapolis, all of whom read the manuscript with
painstaking care and made many valuable suggestions for
its improvement. My wife has listened with never-failing
interest as I read and reread the manuscript to her and
always stood by to help when the going became a little
rough. Above all, I wish to acknowledge my great in-
debtedness to my friend Ben H. Riker, of Indianapolis,
who first encouraged me to put my ideas into book form
and who has been a never-failing source of stimulation.

There is, I think, no more absorbing pursuit than the
study of the life of Abraham Lincoln. As one carries on
this study, he finds that much that is widely, if not gen-
erally, accepted as fact, has little or no foundation in
proved facts. He finds, too, that years of painstaking,
patient research have produced authoritative and often

Preface xiii

documented information which, while it may disclose that
certain beliefs are really merely legends, replaces those
beliefs with a more real, more understandable, more lov-
able figure than that of legend and myth. And, as a result,
a greater figure. It is fascinating to watch that figure grow
as one's reading progresses.

LEGENDS THAT LIBEL LINCOLN

Giving New Life to Old Legends

For more than three-quarters of a century the work
of collecting information about Abraham Lincoln has
been carried on without interruption. His life has been
under many microscopes and has been revealed to us in
thousands of books and articles. No detail of his public
or private life seems to have escaped the probing eyes of
the researchers. Still the investigation goes on. New dis-
coveries continue to be made, and new interpretations
have been made possible by the more accurate knowledge
that has been gained. Much that formerly was hidden
and unknown has been revealed; much that was puzzling
or mysterious has been made more clear. And the per-
spective of time, growing ever broader, has aided in the
study and analysis of facts, and in a better appraisal of
character based upon newer and more reliable informa-
tion.

Steadily, as the result of these many years of probing,
research and study, the figure of Abraham Lincoln has
grown, taking an ever-firmer hold upon our imagination,
gripping our emotions ever more tightly. Many earlier
ideas and beliefs have been modified. Many things once
accepted as true have been found to have been based upon
stories or gossip that had little or no foundation in fact.
While sometimes this new knowledge may have disap-

3

4 Legends That Libel Lincoln

pointed us, possibly even hurt a little, we realize that
Abraham Lincoln, today, is a far more human, under-
standable and real man than the earlier figure created
partly by myth, legend and sentimental emotion.

Nevertheless, certain beliefs based upon incorrect or
inaccurate information of the past still linger in spite of
more recent discoveries, and give promise of becoming
fixed beliefs and permanent parts of the Lincoln legend.
The history of every country is enriched by its legends.
Its heroes take firmer root in the love of its people through
legendary stories that capture the imagination. If these
legends are true to the character of a hero, if they help to
create a more correct and vivid picture, one cannot find
serious fault with them, even though they may not be
historically true. If, however, they help to create an in-
correct picture, to distort the character of a hero, or to
build him up, possibly at the expense of others, then
efforts should be made to check their growth and to pre-
sent the true facts in their place. Sometimes this is not
easy to do. A belief or an idea, once allowed to become
firmly rooted in the minds of many people, is hard to
dislodge. Moreover, in the case of Abraham Lincoln, there
are still differences of opinion among authorities, and
many points about the man and his life yet remain to.be
clarified and settled, if that be possible.

It may be rash for an amateur tiller-of-the-soil in the
field of Lincolniana to venture into any part of that field
before all the roots have been grubbed out. But the ven-
ture is made, in this case, because of the conviction that
certain beliefs about Lincoln are becoming, if they have
not already become, legendary; beliefs which do not aid
us in reaching a better understanding and evaluation of

Giving New Life to Old Legends 5

the man, and which do not create a truer or finer image of
him. Indeed, in some respects, they serve to depreciate
the man, and some of them even libel his character. These
beliefs, moreover, are unsupported by trustworthy evi-
dence. They tend to build up Lincoln at the expense of
others. They do great injustice and injury to others — to
Lincoln's father and to his wife. For the traditional pic-
tures that have been given to us of both Thomas Lincoln
and Mary Todd Lincoln are much distorted. So many
writers have stressed the allegedly shiftless, improvident,
ne'er-do-well characteristics of Lincoln's father that we
have been led to accept their opinion that, because of
these qualities, Abraham Lincoln's boyhood and youth
were lived under conditions of abject poverty amid sordid
and even squalid surroundings. We overlook the fact that
few of the early pioneer families were not very poor, did
not suffer many hardships and live under conditions which,
in later years, seem wretchedly sordid. So much, also, has
been written about Mary Todd Lincoln's undeniable
temper, and her other shortcomings, and the statement
that Lincoln's married life was a distressingly unhappy
one has been repeated so often that we know almost
nothing about her good qualities, of which there were
many. We forget, furthermore, that Lincoln himself never
by word or implication indicated that he was unhappily
married.

Then there is the Ann Rutledge legend, which must
be considered in connection with that of Mary Todd
Lincoln. How this story has been elaborated in biography,
fiction, poetry, and drama! How it continues to be told
and retold in spite of the haziness surrounding this un-
certain affair, and the doubts, questionings and even de-

6 Legends That Libel Lincoln

nials that have been voiced by outstanding students of
Lincoln's life! We ignore the opinions of recognized au-
thorities; we shut our eyes to the lack of proof and to the
fact that this story has never been substantiated by a single
bit of contemporary evidence or even of contemporary
testimony. We seem determined to give Lincoln this boy-
hood romance and to believe that it affected and in-
fluenced his entire life. We give no thought to the effect
of this belief on the memory of Lincoln's wife. If it hurts
her, apparently we do not care, for have we not been told
many ugly stories about her, that she made our hero miser-
ably unhappy, and that he did not love her? Surely there
is no harm in a story which gives him a brief period of
happiness in an otherwise unhappy life.

We forget, however, what we really do to Lincoln
when we tell this story and cherish it. We forget that we
cannot believe it, in all its aspects, unless we are willing
to believe a libel against his character. For, if we believe
that Ann Rutledge was Lincoln's lifelong sweetheart, that
he loved her and her alone throughout his life and cher-
ished her memory above all else, as many tell us was the
case, we must believe ill of him. We must believe that he
was a man of so little principle that he would ask another
woman to marry him and would marry her knowing that
he did not love her and, indeed, could not love her be-
cause of his everlasting love for Ann. Some may be willing
to believe this. I am not. Lincoln was not such a man. To
his wife he gave a wedding ring inscribed with the words
"Love is eternal." Those who accept the Ann Rutledge
legend in its entirety must perforce believe that Abraham
Lincoln was false when he had those words engraved on
that ring and placed it on the finger of Mary Todd.

Giving New Life to Old Legends 7

These three legends — that of Abraham Lincoln's un-
happy, sordid childhood and boyhood with a shiftless, no-
account father; that of Ann Rutledge and the influence
of her death and memory on Lincoln's entire life; and
that of Mary Todd Lincoln, the vile-tempered, constantly
nagging wife who made Lincoln's home life a perpetual
hell — persist in spite of much contradictory evidence that
has been uncovered in recent years. In commenting on the
documentary facts about Thomas Lincoln which Dr. Louis
A. Warren brought to light after years of diligent research,
Mr. Paul M. Angle, an outstanding authority, writes:
". . . under the researches of Louis A. Warren, Thomas
Lincoln, the President's father, has grown measurably
in stature, with the result that the story of Lincoln's boy-
hood must be revised if it is to accord with established
facts." x So, too, the Ann Rutledge episode needs to be
revised in view of the opinions of many outstanding stu-
dents of Lincoln's life. And the story of Mary Todd Lin-
coln should be rewritten in the light of more recent infor-
mation that has been presented in such books as Mary
Lincoln, Wife and Widow, by Carl Sandburg and Paul
M. Angle; Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, by Dr. W. A. Evans;
Lincoln and His Wife's Home Town, by William H.
Townsend; and Mary, Wife of Lincoln, by Katherine
Helm, to name but four.

It is strange how willing we have been to dishonor
the father and the wife of Abraham Lincoln. It is even
more strange how ready we seem to be to continue to do so
in spite of information that has been presented to us which
makes it clear that much that has been told us about these
two people is entirely incorrect and much is grossly exag-
gerated. Is it our desire to try to create more sympathy

8 Legends That Libel Lincoln

for Lincoln by stressing his allegedly worthless father and
sordid boyhood and his supposedly unhappy married life
that leads us to do this? This is the only explanation I
can find for our continued acceptance of these legends.
Abraham Lincoln needs no build-up at the expense of his
father and his wife, even if all the ugly stories that have
been told were true. Certainly he needs no build-up by
means of false or exaggerated stories, or stories based
largely upon gossip and without adequate bases in fact.
Nevertheless, such stories have been told by writers who
consciously or unconsciously appear to tell them for the
purpose of creating greater sympathy for Lincoln. Lincoln
would have resented the attempts that have been made to
arouse sympathy for him at the expense of members of his
family. He would have been filled with anger at the treat-
ment that has been accorded to his father and his wife.
He would have been indignant at the minute attention
that many writers have given to his private life.

The newer and well-authenticated information about
both Thomas and Mary Todd Lincoln seems to be un-
known, or else to be ignored, by many who write or speak
about Lincoln. This appears to be particularly true of
those who are principally interested in some special phase
of Lincoln's life or character, and who often make brief,
almost casual, references to a poverty-stricken boyhood, a
shiftless father, an unhappy marriage as if these were un-
disputed facts. New life is given to old legends in this
way.

The Ann Rutledge legend and its injury to Mary
Todd Lincoln is kept alive by almost everyone who men-
tions Lincoln in any way. On the anniversary of Lincoln's
birth, a year or two ago, radio listeners heard a widely

Giving New Life to Old Legends 9

known literary critic say that, in his life, Abraham Lin-
coln was influenced by two women, his mother and Ann
Rutledge. No mention was made of the fine influence of
Lincoln's stepmother throughout his important, formative
years, from ten to twenty-one. No hint was given of the
marked influence of Mary Todd Lincoln's keen mind and
devoted loyalty throughout more than twenty-two years of
married life. These two women, both dear to Lincoln,
were entirely ignored, and a legend was given a new
breath of life. The title "New Light on Lincoln's Only
Romance" was given by Lloyd Lewis to an article pub-
lished in the New York Times Book Review for February
1 1, 1945. In this he discussed a recently discovered account
of that incident which was published in a small country
newspaper in 1862. Aside from the fact that this newspaper
story gives no new information concerning the romance
itself, Lloyd Lewis's title was an unfortunate one. Even
granted that such a romance actually took place, it should
not be called "Lincoln's Only Romance." Such a descrip-
tion is contradicted by two other well-substantiated love
affairs in Linoln's young-manhood. Mr. Lewis should not
have encouraged his readers to continue to believe a mere
legend by calling the Ann Rutledge romance the "only"
one in Lincoln's life.

In poetry, drama and fiction authors too often use
their imaginations to create scenes that strengthen the
belief of their readers in these legends. Thus, two or three
years ago, we were given a story about the pioneer grand-
father of Abraham Lincoln under the title "His Name
Was Not Forgotten," written by Joel Townsley Rogers.
In one scene in this story the father of Thomas Lincoln
kneels to thank God for his blessings. He gives thanks for

io Legends That Libel Lincoln

his "two able boys, Mordecai and Josiah" and for his
"good wife" and his "two purty little girls, Mary and
Nancy." He also gives thanks for his "little Tom, that
Bersheba bore me five year ago, though he is a dreamer
like her and will never amount to much in this world,
like Mort and Josh." It is a remarkable father who can
forecast the future success of his five-year-old son. Clearly
the author of this story was following tradition, the tradi-
tion of the drifter and ne'er-do-well, when he wrote that
imaginary prayer. Again, we pick up a recent novel, Tad
Lincoln, a story of Lincoln's youngest son in the White
House, written by T. Morris Longstreth. Although frankly
fiction, this book keeps alive both the Ann Rutledge and
the Mary Todd Lincoln legends. In one scene President
Lincoln is pictured as taking a lonely walk with his
thoughts turning to his beloved Tad and then going far
back to dwell upon Ann Rutledge. "If Taddie, the child
of Mary Todd, could be so sweet, what would Taddie,
the child of Ann Rutledge, have been?" he wonders.
What a cruel use of one's imagination! The author, who
clearly was trying to arouse deep sympathy for Abraham
Lincoln, was willing to pillory his wife in order to do so,
his wife of whom he was very proud and to whom he
was completely loyal. In this picture, however, we are
asked to believe that he was not loyal to her in his heart
and in his mind.

Thus the legendary picture of Mary Todd Lincoln
is kept before us and with it the legend of the unhappy
marriage. What proof is there that Lincoln's marriage was
unhappy, as so many writers persist in telling us and as
so many people believe? None whatever. No one has ever
supported this belief with a single statement of Lincoln

Giving New Life to Old Legends 11

himself. We can only repeat that never by word or impli-
cation did Abraham Lincoln indicate that he was un-
happily married. That he was sometimes distressed by her
outbursts of temper, that he sometimes walked away and
left her on such occasions, is undoubtedly true, but there
is no evidence whatever that he did not love her, admire
her, and was not devotedly loyal to her. Happiness is rela-
tive. Each of us has his own measure. What would be hap-
piness for one person might be boredom or wretchedness
for another. When, without any evidence from Lincoln to
support the statement, one declares that he was unhappily
married, that person is merely saying that he would have
been unhappy had he been married to Mary Todd.

On July 18, 1882, a few days after the death of Mrs.
Lincoln, the New York Times made this comment about
the marriage relations of Abraham and Mary Lincoln:
"The brief stay of the Lincoln family in the White House
could not have been happy. The shadow of the war lay
over the land and the President and his wife were never
for an hour beyond reach of sorrowings for the wounded
and lamentations for the dead. In an atmosphere like that
which then enveloped the White House nothing but the
strongest conjugal affection could have maintained even a
shadow of domestic happiness. But it is a matter of record
that Lincoln in his homely phrase constantly referred to
his home and his family, his wife and boys, and to his
daily domestic concerns with real enjoyment and with the
unaffected simplicity of a villager who never dreamed of
power or greatness. It is not easy to forgive those slander-
ous tongues of Washington who maligned the wife of the
President, who idolized and worshiped her husband. These
fantastic inventions born of a time prolific of chimeras

12 Legends That Libel Lincoln

and phantasms are now laid to rest with the unhappy lady
whose last years have been filled with so much to make
life a burden." 2 Many others have written about the slan-
derous tongues of Washington which spread so many false
and scandalous reports about Mrs. Lincoln, as we shall
see. How well they did their work, aided and abetted by
biographers and others primarily interested in Abraham
Lincoln and only incidentally in his wife, is evidenced by
the persistency of the Mary Todd Lincoln legend — that of
a vile-tempered shrew whose only virtue, according to
many, was that she "nagged her husband into greatness."
The New York Times was sadly mistaken in thinking
that "fantastic inventions" would be laid to rest with the
death of Mrs. Lincoln. One might give many more exam-
ples than the few that have been cited to illustrate the
manner in which legends once created are kept alive by
writers and public speakers. Where did these writers and
speakers gain their information about these legends? Ob-
viously from biographies of Abraham Lincoln. Where,
then, did the writers of those biographies obtain their
knowledge of these stories? What were the original sources
of their information and how did they present this infor-
mation in the books which they wrote? That is a very in-
teresting subject which grows more interesting as we
examine it.

II

Legends Spring from the Dim Past

It is not surprising that many legends connected with
the early years of Abraham Lincoln arose when one con-
siders that the first information about those years came
almost exclusively from the memories of many individuals
recorded in letters or interviews after Lincoln's death. In
appraising these reminiscences it should be kept in mind
that, in 1865, almost a quarter of a century had elapsed
since Abraham Lincoln courted Mary Todd; his New
Salem days were from 28 to 33 years in the past; from 35
to 49 years had passed since his boyhood in Indiana and
from 49 to 56 years since his childhood and birth in Ken-
tucky. Time plays strange tricks with human memory, and
reminiscences passed down verbally from one person to
another and often to a third before being recorded, pos-
sibly by a fourth person, often undergo radical changes in
the passing, particularly when this final recording may not
take place for from 75 to 100 years after the incident
being described actually occurred. There are many in-
stances of such long relaying of reminiscences to be found
among those which have been used as source material by
Lincoln biographers.

In commenting on the frailties of human memory
from the standpoint of the biographer, Ida M. Tarbell
writes: "One cannot do much historical and biographical

13

14 Legends That Libel Lincoln

work without learning that the memory of man, when it
comes to exact details, is painfully unreliable. A conversa-
tion is rarely repeated twice alike. With no malice, with
no intent to deceive, men distort the thing which has been
told them twenty-four hours before, and with every day
and month that passes, if they repeat the tale, this distor-
tion grows and changes." * Dr. J. G. Randall reminds us
that "proneness to uncertain recollections is a common
human trait." "The historian," he says, "must use reminis-
cence, but he must do so critically. . . . When it comes
through the mist of many years some of it may be true,
but a careful writer will check it with known facts. Con-
tradictory reminiscences leave doubt as to what is to be
believed; unsupported memories are in themselves insuffi-
cient as proof . . ." 2

From such sources, however, came the first informa-
tion of the childhood, boyhood and young-manhood of
Abraham Lincoln. It came from the reminiscences of men
and women who were trying to recall people and events of
long years before, from the memories of those who were
sincerely trying to assist in the collection of information
about Abraham Lincoln, those of people who wished to
glorify him, those of individuals flattered at being asked
for information and eager to become known as members
of the I-Knew-Him-When Club, and from the memories
of those who viewed the past through the "rosy mist of an
old man's memory," to use the expression of one com-
mentator. It was based upon neighborhood and family
traditions that located the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln
in several different counties and cabins, indeed in three
different states; that had Thomas Lincoln marrying Nancy
Hanks on different dates, in different places, or not at all;

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 15

that described Nancy Hanks as slender and fair or as a
"heavy-built squatty woman," and Thomas Lincoln as
being tall or as rather short and stocky; memories con-
fused by the fact that there was more than one Nancy
Hanks, more than one Thomas Lincoln and, a most in-
teresting fact, three Abraham Lincolns born in Kentucky
within a period of twelve years, two of whom had fathers
named Thomas. There is little wonder that much of this
earlier information has been found to be highly colored
or unreliable to a greater or less extent, or even to be en-
tirely incorrect. There is little wonder that certain legends
sprang up. The real wonder is that these legends, in view
of their uncertain origin, have become so firmly estab-
lished and still persist in spite of the contradictory evi-
dence or information that has been brought to light by
more systematic and scientific research of later years.

By far the largest collection of statements from individ-
uals regarding Lincoln's childhood, boyhood and young-
manhood was made by William H. Herndon, Lincoln's
law partner. Herndon devoted the last years of his life to
this work, writing innumerable letters and interviewing
those who might give him some information. He makes no
report, however, of searches through public records in
county courthouses or elsewhere, nor are any such records
given in his biography or in his papers which have been
published. Had he made such a search he would have dis-
covered those public records which have since been found
and which would not have permitted him to make many
of the statements he did make regarding Abraham Lin-
coln's family background, his father, and his boyhood
years. He relied, however, upon statements made to him
by many different people, all of whom were recalling inci-

16 Legends That Libel Lincoln

dents of the past, often the long past, and many of whom
were telling him things that had been told to them by
others. These statements were made in letters or verbally,
and recorded by him. Sometimes these recordings were
not made until many years later and were merely his rec-
ollection of what someone else had once told him. To
Herndon the information given him through the recol-
lections of others was all fact. Over a period of many years,
and as late as 1891, he wrote letters to his collaborator,
Jesse W. Weik, in which he told of his remembrance of
events of many years before of which he had personal
knowledge or which had been related to him by others,
often with quotations of conversations long past. Always
he spoke of the "facts" he was giving to his collaborator.
Many of the statements he collected were made in answer
to questions which he asked. Again Dr. Randall warns us
that "statements induced under suggestion, or psychologi-
cal stimulus, as were some of the stories about Lincoln
and Ann [Rutledge], call especially for careful ap-
praisal." 3 We do not know how Mr. Herndon may have
stimulated the memories of those whom he interviewed or
to whom he wrote letters by the questions he asked them,
but the general nature of some of the questions is revealed
by the manner in which the answers are worded. His per-
sistency and the sharpness of his questions are indicated
by a remark made to him by Mary Owens, who once wrote
to him: "Really you catechise me in true lawyer style." 4
The country owes a large debt to William H. Hern-
don for the time which he devoted to collecting informa-
tion about the early years of Abraham Lincoln. This
information, although few later biographers have had
access to all of it, has probably been the most important

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 17

source for those writing about Lincoln's life up to the
time he went to Washington. Ward H. Lamon, who pub-
lished a biography of Lincoln in 1872, purchased from
Mr. Herndon copies of all documents collected by him
up to the date of purchase in 1869, and possibly up to
the date of publication of his biography. As a result,
Lamon's biography became a source book for later biog-
raphers more because it was based upon Herndon ma-
terial than for its own merits, which were reduced by the
manner in which its real author approached and inter-
preted his material. For the Lamon biography, as we
now know, was not written by Ward H. Lamon, but by
Chauncey F. Black, son of Judge Jeremiah S. Black, a
former member of the Cabinet of President Buchanan
and a prominent member of the Democratic party. How
much an antagonistic political attitude with its possible
personal hostility to Loncoln, the man, may have influ-
enced the author is not a matter for discussion here. It
seems clear, however, that the author's approach was not
sympathetic, for as one reads the chapters dealing with
Lincoln's earlier years one finds a much more critical
attitude and more disparaging statements about Lincoln's
family background, Thomas Lincoln, and the conditions
under which the Lincoln family lived than are found in
the Herndon biography. One finds, too, information con-
tained in the Herndon papers, and which formed the
principal source of information about those early years,
presented with much exaggeration, together with state-
ments that seem to come from the author, alone, without
any real foundation.5

Only two other biographers have had access to all
the Herndon manuscripts. One was Jesse W. Weik, Hern-

18 Legends That Libel Lincoln

don's collaborator, who used those papers as the basis of
the biography commonly referred to as the Herndon
Biography, and for the book which he later wrote entitled
The Real Lincoln. The other was Albert J. Beveridge.
Beveridge made extensive use of the Herndon material,
one commentator finding 752 references to these manu-
scripts in the first volume of the Beveridge biography.6
Only recently have the Herndon-Weik papers been made
available to others by being lodged in the Library of Con-
gress, where they are now subject to such critical analysis
of historians as has been made of some of them by Dr.
J. G. Randall in his recently published Lincoln the
President.

The influence of the information collected by Hern-
don upon writers of all kinds, biographers, novelists, poets
and dramatists, has been very great. Unfortunately it has
not always been good, as has been made clear by careful re-
search on the part of different students throughout many
years. It was Herndon who first gave life to legends that
still persist. He first pictured Thomas Lincoln as an illiter-
ate, poverty-stricken rover who never paid for a single
piece of land upon which he lived and who sometimes
abused his son. He was the first to impress upon the
world the legend of Ann Rutledge. He was the first to
create the picture of Mary Todd Lincoln that has become
so firmly implanted in our minds, who called her a
"tigress" and a "she-wolf" and told the world that Lin-
coln's home life was a veritable hell. Consequently, our
debt to Herndon has been reduced by the manner in
which he has led us astray in several instances, and by
the great wrong he has done to Lincoln's father and wife
in his efforts to build up his hero. For this reason it is

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 19

important that we study his sources of information and
carefully examine his papers and letters.

A few years ago Emanuel Hertz published a collection
of the Herndon manuscripts in a book entitled The Hid-
den Lincoln. In the introduction to this book Mr. Hertz
writes: "Here at last is Herndons' complete evidence, the
full record of the steps by which he reached his conclu-
sions, the supporting testimony of his and Lincoln's con-
temporaries." 7 This is a puzzling statement in view of
the fact that only a portion of the Herndon papers are
published in this book, as is evidenced by the omission
of many papers to which both Beveridge and Dr. Randall
make reference. The statement is even more puzzling
when, among the omitted papers, we find many of those
which contradicted or discredited certain legends and gave
information which Herndon, for some reason, withheld
from his readers and which is still withheld by this book
which purports to present Herndon's "complete evidence."
The omission of many important papers from the book is
regrettable.

One reads these published letters written by Herndon
to many correspondents with great interest and, in many
instances, with even greater surprise. Almost from the first
one is struck by Mr. Herndon's complete certainty that he,
and he alone, knew and understood Lincoln, and that he
alone was in possession of all the true facts regarding
Lincoln's life. He is scornful of others; he writes patron-
izingly and critically of Nicolay and Hay, and is sarcastic
regarding those who differ with him. Yet, with all his
assurance, he makes some curious mistakes. In different
letters he mentions different dates for the wedding of
Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, and he does this after

20 Legends That Libel Lincoln

the true date had been established by the marriage record
which others had discovered in 1878. In a letter dated
September 15, 1883, Herndon discussed April 23, 1806, as
the wedding date.8 In another, written on January 19,
1886, he said that the wedding took place on September
23, 1806, and called attention to the "fact" that the first
child of this marriage was born on February 10, 1807, "a
little less than five months from the day of the marriage."
"This" he wrote, "is the second fact which you must carry
along in order to draw correct inferences." 9 His belief
in this incorrect fact seems to give him a certain grim
pleasure.

In these published letters of Herndon there are some
surprising statements which we are compelled to use in
connection with the Ann Rutledge legend, although
Herndon does not make them in this connection. After
declaring that "Mr. Lincoln loved Ann to his death, no
mistake" 10 and that "the memory of Ann Rutledge was
the saddest chapter in Mr. Lincoln's life," n after his
vivid description of Lincoln's alleged insanity following
Ann's death, in short, after starting on its way the legend
that Ann was the only woman whom Lincoln ever really
loved, it is rather startling to find Herndon contradicting
himself by asserting that Lincoln was incapable of love.
But that is exactly what he wrote in a letter to Henry C.
Whitney, dated April 16, 1887: "Lincoln ought never to
have married any one. He had no quality for a husband.
He was abstracted, cool, never loved, and could not from
his very nature." 12 Thus Herndon himself explodes the
Ann Rutledge legend.

An equally amazing contradition is discovered in
Herndon's letters regarding Mary Todd Lincoln. These

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 21

contain many references to her as a "terror," "she-wolf,"
"the female wild-cat of the age." He tells more than one
correspondent that Lincoln's family life was miserably
unhappy; "a home hell on this globe," he wrote in one
letter.13 In another he wrote that "the rich incidents at
that house were those of an unpleasant nature." 14 The
use of the words, "rich incidents" which he italicized, is
rather indicative of Herndon smacking his lips over un-
pleasant gossip. Now let us see how Herndon contradicts
himself. In a letter dated November 20, 1866, he wrote to
Isaac N. Arnold as follows: "The world does not know
her, Mrs. L's. sufferings, her trials and the causes of things.
Sympathize with her. I shall never rob Mrs. Lincoln of
her justice — justice due her. Poor woman! She will yet
have her rewards." 15 A few days later, on November 26,
1866, he wrote this to Charles H. Hart: "Poor woman!
The world has no charity for her and yet justice must be
done her, being careful not to injure her husband. All
that I know ennobles both . . ." 16 Again, to Hart, he
wrote on December 12, 1866, of his determination to put
Mrs. Lincoln "right before the world for all time. She,
too, has borne her cross and she shall have justice if I
live." And, he added, "what I know and shall tell ennobles
both." 17 To his collaborator, Jesse W. Weik, he wrote
almost twenty years later: "In her domestic troubles I
have always sympathized with her. The world does not
know what she bore and the history of the bearing. I will
write it out some time." 18 A short time later he again
wrote to Weik: "I have always sympathized with Mrs.
Lincoln." 19

One finds it difficult to believe that the man who
started the legend of the nagging shrew who turned Lin-

22 Legends That Libel Lincoln

coin's home into a veritable hell should make such contra-
dictory statements in private letters. Surely he used a
strange method of showing sympathy for Mrs. Lincoln in
his biography of her husband. In it he tells nothing that
"ennobles" her, nothing that shows or arouses a genuine
sympathy for her. It is true, as he wrote to Hart, that "the
world has no charity for her." But he must assume a
large responsibility for the continuance of that attitude,
for from him, to a great degree, has come the legend of
Lincoln's unhappy marriage. Herndon admits that Lin-
coln did not discuss his domestic affairs with him or with
anyone else. He implies that he did not do so because
those affairs were so unhappy, but that was merely Hern-
don's guess. He makes many statements regarding Lin-
coln's extreme reticence. In one letter he wrote: "Mr.
Lincoln was a secretive, silent, and a very reticent-minded
man, trusting no man, nor woman, nor child with the
inner secrets of his ambitious soul." 20 In another he
wrote: "He was the most secretive — reticent, shut-mouthed
man that ever existed." And in this same letter Mr. Hern-
don makes this truly remarkable statement: "You had to
guess at the man after years of acquaintance, and then
you must look long and keenly before you guessed or you
would make an ass of yourself." 21 Herndon was very
proud of his ability to "guess," to read another man's
innermost thoughts. He boasted of his "dog-sagacity," his
"intuition," his "mind instinct," of his ability to "read"
another man by merely looking him in the eye. Let us see
what an outstanding Lincoln authority has to say about
Herndon's tendency to "guess." Paul M. Angle writes as
follows: "It was in this process of guessing, of analyzing
and inferring from known facts, that Herndon went astray.

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 23

Not always — not even often, in fact — but still frequently
enough to make his book unacceptable in its entirety. As
a reporter of that which he himself observed at first hand,
barring, of course, inevitable errors of memory, he was
unexcelled. ... As an investigator he was less reliable. An
emotional nature, easily roused to enthusiasm, is not ideal
equipment for the weighing of evidence. As a delineator
of character — an analyst — he was most fallible, tending to
ascribe to Lincoln what would have been his own reaction
in similar circumstances." 22

In view of Herndon's admitted willingness to guess,
it seems probable that he ascribed to Lincoln an un-
happiness in his marriage relations that would have been
Herndon's had he been married to Mary Todd. Knowing
that he himself would have been miserable under such
circumstances, he guessed that Lincoln was. Thus Hern-
don created the legend of an unhappy marriage regarding
which he admits that he did not get any knowledge from
Lincoln himself. He guessed, and guesswork is the basis
of this legend.

As one turns from one biographer of Abraham Lin-
coln to another, one is puzzled by the manner in which
different writers accept or reject information. It is quite
apparent that many writers accept as true testimony that
supports an opinion or belief which they have formed
and which they wish to impress upon their readers.
Herndon, for example, never told his readers that, in the
minds of several people who lived in New Salem at the
time, the Ann Rutledge legend was doubtful if not untrue.
He did not print the contradictory statements he had
received nor did he suggest that there was, or could be,
any doubt about this episode. The Lamon biography also

24 Legends That Libel Lincoln

suppressed this contradictory testimony. It remained for
others to give us this information. Herndon did not print
in his biography statements he had received from different
people testifying to good qualities of Thomas Lincoln.
Lamon and others have kept this information from us.
Herndon kept silent about much information that did not
support the legends he gave to the world, just as he stifled
the sympathy which he protested, in his letters, he felt for
Mrs. Lincoln, and failed to give us the knowledge which
he declared he had that ennobled her.

Herndon, however, is not alone in rejecting informa-
tion that does not support opinions or beliefs which have
been formed. Many other biographers do this, including
so painstaking a one as Beveridge. Mention has been of
Dr. Louis A. Warren's research into the early life, par-
ticularly the Kentucky life, of the Lincoln family, and of
Angle's opinion that the story of Abraham Lincoln's boy-
hood must be revised in the light of the facts established
by Dr. Warren. This opinion was given after Beveridge's
work was published. Yet Dr. Warren's book, Lincoln's
Parentage and Childhood, was published in 1926, and all
the documented information it contains was available to
Beveridge. One would naturally expect to find in Bev-
eridge's biography many references to Dr. Warren's book,
just as one finds many, literally hundreds, of references
to the Herndon papers. Very few references to Dr.
Warren's book are to be found, however; probably not
more than half a dozen. Since Beveridge's biography of
Abraham Lincoln's early years is the last to have been
written, we still must wait for a "Life of Lincoln" that
presents the newer and more reliable information about

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 25

his early years that has been brought to light by careful
research.

One of the surprising things to the person seeking
to separate fact from legend in the life of Abraham
Lincoln is the manner in which biographers apparently
accept reminiscences without any question as to the reli-
ability or credibility of those from whom they came. In
reading about the childhood of Lincoln, for example, one
frequently finds references to Austin Gollaher who, as a
boy, lived about three miles from the Lincoln cabin on
Knob Creek in Kentucky. Undoubtedly Gollaher knew
Abraham as a boy, but how intimate a friend or playmate
he was is not known. A separation of three miles in a
rather wild country would probably prevent small boys
from getting together regularly or even frequently. Jesse
W. Weik tells us that he interviewed Austin Gollaher on
one occasion, the date of which is not given. He implies
that Herndon had talked to Gollaher on an earlier occa-
sion, but this is not clear. According to Weik, about the
only incident in the boyhood life of Lincoln which Austin
Gollaher was able to recall, and the only one mentioned
in the Herndon biography, was the occasion when
Gollaher claimed to have rescued the small boy, Abraham,
from drowning.23 On another occasion, in 1886, Austin
Gollaher was interviewed by A. M. Brown, who recorded
this interview in a letter written at that time and which
has been preserved. In this interview Gollaher again told
of saving little Abraham from drowning, this time giving
the date of the rescue as 1812.24 In his report of this
interview Brown wrote, in part: "One day this past week
I saw Austin Gollaher the only man in Larue County
who claims to have known Lincoln. He has no knowledge

26 Legends That Libel Lincoln

of where Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks were married
and only knows from rumor where Abraham Lincoln was
born. Gollaher says he himself was born in 1805, that in
1812 his father came to Hardin County and located on
one of the headwaters of Knob Creek, that when he
located on Knob Creek Old Thomas Lincoln and his son
Abraham were living near the mouth of the creek and
that he and Abraham went to school together." 25

Thus, early seekers after information about Abraham
Lincoln's childhood sought out Austin Gollaher, and went
away with empty notebooks. In 1921, however, there ap-
peared a book entitled The Boyhood of Abraham Lincoln,
which the author, J. Rogers Gore, stated was based on
reminiscences which Austin Gollaher gave to him in 1896,
when Gollaher was ninety years old or more. It is astonish-
ing that this book should be considered as more than
pleasant fiction based upon folklore, but it has served as
a source book for numerous writers. Nathaniel W.
Stephenson makes many references to it and defends his
use of these questionable reminiscences in these words:
"Of course, they are not 'documented' evidence. Some
students are for brushing them aside. But there is one
important argument in their favor. They are coherent;
the boy they describe is a real person and his personality
is sustained. If he is fiction and not a memory, the
old mountaineer was a literary artist — far more the artist
than one finds it easy to believe." 26 Of course the coher-
ence and the sustained personality mentioned by Mr.
Stephenson may be due to the skill of the author of this
book, rather than to Austin Gollaher's artistry. As one
reads this book of Gollaher reminiscences one wonders
how it was possible for him to remember so much at the

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 27

age of ninety when many years earlier he could remember
only one episode. The little Abraham, as described by
Gollaher, in this book, may have a sustained personality,
but whether he is a real boy is a very different matter.
Little Lord Fauntleroy was a sustained personality, but
a very unreal boy, and the little Abraham of Gollaher's
reminiscences has much of Little Lord Fauntleroy about
him. The most fantastic tale this book gives us is an
elaborate account of what took place in the Lincoln cabin
on February 12, 1809, when Abraham was born, a story
in which Gollaher's father and mother play prominent
parts as good Samaritans. It is a pitiful story, as related
by Austin Gollaher, but it came entirely from his imagina-
tion, for we remember that he, himself, told Brown that
his family did not move into Hardin County until 1812,
three years after Lincoln's birth. This statement of his
was not imagination; it is confirmed by tax records of the
county.27 From such books as The Boyhood of Abraham
Lincoln do legends grow.

Every biographer who writes of the boyhood of
Abraham Lincoln refers directly or indirectly to state-
ments made by Dennis Hanks and John Hanks. There
are many such references in the books of Herndon, Lamon
and Beveridge. Dennis Hanks was one of Herndon's most
important sources of information, as well as of those who
rely largely upon Herndon for their information. In view
of this one is much surprised to find that each of these
three biographers raises serious questions as to Dennis
Hanks's reliability as a witness. Herndon, indeed, calls
him a liar on more than one occasion. "I have no con-
fidence in Dennis Hanks, Bill Green, and some others,"
he wrote to Ward H. Lamon on February 24, 1869. "They

28 Legends That Libel Lincoln

may be correct or may not. The other Hanks — John — I
believe in, think him a good man and a truthful one, but
does not always know." 28 Again, on February 25, 1870, he
wrote to Lamon: "Dennis Hanks would go a mile out of
his way to lie." 29 Fifteen years later his opinion of Dennis
Hanks was unchanged. He warned Jesse W. Weik, on
April 14, 1885: "You must watch Dennis, criticize what he
says and how he says it, when and where, 'tight' or sober.
Dennis loves to blow. . . ." 30 A few months later, on
December 1, 1885, he wrote to Weik as follows: "I am
glad to know that your eyes are open about Dennis Hanks;
he is a grand exaggerator, if not a great liar. I believed
nothing he told me unless he was — rather his story was —
verified by John Hanks. . . ." 31

Ward H. Lamon also speaks of Dennis Hanks's un-
reliability. He mentions him sarcastically as being "the
most amusing, most insinuating, and most prolific" of
those who gave information to Herndon, and calls him
"merely a harmless romancer." 32 He tells us that John
Hanks, in contrast, was a "sober, honest, truthful man,
with none of the wit and none of the questionable accom-
plishments of Dennis." 33 And Mr. Beveridge likewise
speaks of Dennis Hanks's "inaccuracy when magnifying
the Lincolns" 34 and again, in a footnote, tells those who
read footnotes that "Dennis is watchful in the extreme in
exalting the Hanks and Lincoln families." "Luckily," he
writes, "it is easy to distinguish between fact and imagina-
tion in his letters and interviews." 35 It may have been
easy for Beveridge to make such a distinction, but it is a
very different matter for the average reader to do this, and
it is through average readers that legends grow. It is
puzzling to note how Beveridge accepts or rejects state-

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 29

ments made by Dennis Hanks. Thus he flatly rejects
Dennis's statement that Nancy Hanks Lincoln read Bible
stories to her children, because he can find no supporting
evidence. On the other hand, he accepts without apparent
question many of Dennis's statements that are equally un-
supported by other evidence, such as, for example, the
statement that Thomas Lincoln sold his Knob Creek farm
in Kentucky for $300, taking payment principally in
whisky which he transported to Indiana, a tale unsup-
ported by a single bit of evidence.

In 1908, a book entitled The Boyhood of Lincoln was
published by Eleanor Atkinson. It reports an interview
with Dennis Hanks which the author had in 1889, when
Hanks was ninety years old, so old that more than once, in
the course of the interview, he fell asleep and the inter-
viewer had to wait until he woke up. This book has been
widely used as a source book, being described by one
writer as a "haunting sketch." Perhaps it is, but whether
it is reliable history is quite a different matter. It is diffi-
cult to understand how this book has been accepted by
many who write about Lincoln, in view of its many exag-
gerations, its romancing, and its actual misstatements. In
his interview with the author of this book Dennis spoke
quite disparagingly of Thomas Lincoln, who, he said, "was
always ready to move" and "was always looking for the
land o' Canaan." He chuckled over the manner in which
he claimed that Sarah Bush Lincoln "set some kind of a
dead-fall trap fur him an' got him to jine the Baptist
Church!" 36 Thomas Lincoln did not need to be tricked
into joining a church, as we shall see when we study him
more closely. Dennis Hanks's comments about Thomas
Lincoln, when talking to Eleanor Atkinson, aroused the

30 Legends That Libel Lincoln

indignation of his daughter who, during one of his fre-
quent naps, expressed her feelings emphatically in a way
to give the interviewer a very different picture of Thomas
Lincoln than the one drawn by Dennis. Her statement
will be quoted in a later chapter.

When one reads the many conflicting, highly colored,
and obviously incorrect statements made by Dennis Hanks
to William H. Herndon and to Eleanor Atkinson, de-
scribing Nancy Hanks in contradictory ways, locating the
birthplace of Abraham Lincoln in the wrong place and in
a large double cabin with a passage between, picturing
Abraham Lincoln, in one statement, as being a "stout,
powerful boy, fat, round, plump," 37 up to the time he
moved to New Salem at the age of twenty-one or twenty-
two, and, in another statement, as being at the age of
nineteen "the ganglin'est, awkwardest feller that ever
stepped over a ten-rail, snake fence," 38 and making many
other similarly incorrect and conflicting statements; and
when, as one reads these, one recalls the poor opinions of
Herndon, Lamon and Beveridge regarding Dennis Hanks's
reliability, one can only wonder how much credence
should be given to his reminiscences.

John Hanks, according to Herndon, was a thoroughly
honest man who, however, "did not always know," and
others have echoed Herndon. Nevertheless, John Hanks's
memory evidently played him false, for we find him saying
some curious things. In a long statement recorded by
Herndon, John Hanks said that he knew Nancy Hanks
before her marriage to Thomas Lincoln in 1806. In the
same statement he said that he was born in 1802. His
four-year-old picture of her, recorded sixty years later,
could not have been very distinct. He also claimed to

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 31

have known Thomas and Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky.
One cannot prove that he did not know them in that
state, but it is reported that John Hanks's home in Ken-
tucky was thirty-five miles from the Lincoln cabin, a long
distance in those days for close acquaintance.39 Abraham
Lincoln throws some light on this. In a letter dated
August 24, i860, he stated positively that he had no recol-
lection of ever having known John's brother, Charles,
until the latter moved to Illinois. He clearly implied that
he did not know John until John moved to Indiana and
lived near the Lincoln home for a few years.40

In the published statement of John Hanks we find
that he described a flatboat trip which, according to his
story, he made with Lincoln down the Mississippi River
to New Orleans, in 1831. There the travelers saw slaves
chained and whipped and there, according to Hanks,
Abraham Lincoln first "formed his opinions of slavery; it
ran its iron in him then and there — May, 1831." 41 To
John Hanks is attributed the remark that Lincoln is sup-
posed to have made at that time: "By God, boys, let's
get away from this. If I ever get a chance to hit that thing,
I'll hit it hard," a remark often quoted with many varia-
tions. This remark, however, does not appear in the state-
ment of John Hanks as published with the other Herndon
papers. It is possible, of course, that Hanks reported this
verbally to Herndon. Lincoln may have made some such
comment at some time, but if he made it at New Orleans
in May, 1831, John Hanks did not hear him say it, nor
did John Hanks witness Lincoln's reaction to the cruelties
of slavery as he saw them at that time. For John Hanks
was not there. Lincoln himself has told us that John

32 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Hanks did not go to New Orleans, but left the flatboat
at St. Louis.42

In addition to the failure of human memory to recall
old events accurately, and in addition to the tendency on
the part of some narrators to romanticize, one cannot help
but wonder if some of those who recorded their recollec-
tions of Abraham Lincoln and of his family were not influ-
enced by some purpose or motive. There was a widespread
tendency in the first years after Lincoln's death to glorify
him, and many plaster-saint images of him were created.
Was there a tendency to glorify him at the expense of
others? Also, were some people, perhaps, overzealous in
seeking to identify themselves with Abraham Lincoln?
There are many reminiscences in which men report con-
versations with Lincoln in which they familiarly address
him as "Abe." More than one close friend of Lincoln's has
questioned the reliability of such reminiscences. They em-
phatically state that, in his later years in Springfield, as
well as in Washington, Lincoln was invariably addressed
as "Mr. Lincoln" or possibly as "Lincoln." There was
about him a peculiar dignity that did not encourage first-
name familiarity. Lincoln was equally formal in addressing
others. He rarely called men, even close friends, by their
first names. His letters to his intimate friend, Joshua Speed,
do not begin "Dear Joshua," but "Dear Speed." Accord-
ingly, when we come across stories in which men tell of
calling him Abe when talking to him there is reason to be-
lieve that those men were seeking to show an intimacy that
did not actually exist.

What about the people who talked about Mary Todd
Lincoln? Were some of them, perhaps, men and women
who had felt the lash of her sharp tongue and who cher-

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 33

ished resentment? How many of them were merely gossip-
mongers? There was much gossip in Springfield and in
Washington, as we shall see, gossip by those who did not
like her, but did like her husband, and political gossip of
a low order. In our study of Mrs. Lincoln we shall find
that, when Herndon first began to interview people of
Springfield regarding the home life of Mr. and Mrs. Lin-
coln, after the death of President Lincoln, there was a
widespread feeling of antagonism toward Mrs. Lincoln
among residents of that city. How much did this in-
fluence the people of a community in which, accord-
ing to one resident, she had "no friends," when they gave
voice to their recollections of her? How many of those who
gave their reminiscences to Herndon and to others were
seeking to exalt Abraham Lincoln without any thought as
to whether they were doing wrong to another? And, turn-
ing from those who gave reminiscences to those who used
them as source material for books, how many biographers
and other writers have been carried away by the same de-
sire to build up their hero? How many have given an un-
duly low start to Abraham Lincoln in order that his rise to
greatness might appear more marvelous? How many have
sought to make him a domestic martyr as well as a political
one? I think it is quite apparent that Herndon, for one,
had such motives, which he indicated in several letters that
will be quoted later. Others have followed his lead.

One of the great tasks faced by students has been that
of separating fact from tradition and imagination in the
reminiscences of many individuals which, for so long a
time, formed the principal source of information about
Lincolns' ancestry, his family, and his early years. Long
years of research have been devoted to this work, years of

34 Legends That Libel Lincoln

hunting for real contemporary records and, surprisingly
enough, finding many such records in courthouses and
other public places where they had long lain covered with
dust and forgotten. Attics, cellars, storerooms have been
ransacked for old letters and other papers. In many in-
stances hearsay testimony and reminiscences have been
supplanted by public documents and other contemporary
writings. Public documents give to information an author-
ity that cannot be ignored. Contemporary letters and
papers may not be so authoritative as public records. They
are, however, far more credible than similar letters or
papers written long years after some person has passed
away or some event has taken place. Letters written by an
individual will give a clearer insight into that person's ac-
tions, motives or feelings than is possible to obtain from
reminiscences of others put into writing many years later.
Letters which Abraham Lincoln wrote to his wife, for
example, are much more indicative of their true marriage
relations than is the gossip of neighbors or the guesses of
biographers. Letters which Mary Todd wrote in 1841 and
1842, before her marriage, and which were published for
the first time only a few years ago, throw a new and quite
different light on her general attitude of mind in that
period of her life about which so many guesses have been
made.

Much of the newer information regarding Thomas
and Mary Todd Lincoln has not yet found its way into
Lincoln biographies. One must find this in specialized
studies, which many writers seem to overlook. Because one
must go to many different books for this newer informa-
tion about Lincoln's father and wife, and because so many
writers apparently do not do this, and many readers seem

Legends Spring from the Dim Past 35

not to know of these books (except close students of Lin-
coln's life), I am presenting much of this information in
the pages that follow. I am also presenting the pictures of
Thomas and Mary Todd Lincoln which I have formed as
the result of this knowledge. Possibly by thus collecting and
briefing facts and opinions gathered from many sources,
others, too, may form a new and, I believe, a truer and
more just estimate of these two people. In neither case will
any attempt be made to present a complete biography of
the individual, nor will any effort be made to discuss or
to refute all the charges that tradition has heaped upon
them. The purpose will be to show that tradition has been
unfair and unjust in its treatment of Lincoln's father and
wife; to show that there are facts about each that have
not been told to us by most of the biographers of Abraham
Lincoln, and qualities of character that have been kept
from us.

Ill

Thomas Lincoln— Average Pioneer

We have heard so much about the alleged short-
comings of Thomas Lincoln, the legendary picture of him
has become so firmly established in our minds, that many
writers have marveled that from such a paternity could
have come an Abraham Lincoln. Some have wondered
whether the early stories of Lincoln' illegitimacy might
not be true, because they cannot understand how the
Thomas Lincoln of legend could be the father of such a
man. To others, Lincoln's birth has been almost a divine
miracle which provided our country with a savior in its
most crucial hour.

Our understanding of Abraham Lincoln has been
harmed, rather than helped, by the overemphasis that has
been given to the poverty of his family, and by the exag-
gerated tales that have been told of the conditions of his
childhood and boyhood homes. His struggle from a pio-
neer cabin to the White House was remarkable enough
without the need of exaggeration. Nor is our understand-
ing of Lincoln's character improved by being led to be-
lieve that he inherited no worthy qualities from his father.
In the words of one writer, Lincoln's sole inheritance from
his father was his "dark coarse hair, the gray eyes, sal-
low complexion and brawny strength ... It was not from

36

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 37

his father . . . that Lincoln inherited any of his remark-
able traits." x

We have a better understanding of Abraham Lincoln,
I think, when we realize that he came from a sturdy pio-
neer ancestry, and that from his father he inherited or
acquired more than one quality for which we honor and
love him — truthfulness, kindliness, honesty. His biogra-
phers, however, have not told us this. Many seem to vie
with one another in the selection of harsh adjectives with
which to describe Thomas Lincoln. Many, quite evidently,
have wished to draw a sharp contrast between Abraham
Lincoln's humble beginnings and his lofty goal, and, since
the peak to which he climbed stands out clearly before us
and cannot be raised, the obscure, humble beginning has
been lowered. William H. Herndon advised Ward H.
Lamon to stress this contrast, telling him that Lincoln
"was born into the social world with a curse on him, a
millstone tied to his neck. . . . Show his origin and end
sharply contrasted. Contrast is a power; it makes things dis-
tinct. Sympathy is a power. State the facts of his origin so
as to assure active sympathy and to bind it to him. Sympa-
thy is a power. ... I should show his low origin and high
end in bold contrast. . . . This is my idea, and I think
the best course for you. You must do so, if you want your
hero to shine." 2 Herndon was convinced that Lincoln
came from a very sorry ancestry and from very sordid
beginnings, from a "stagnant, putrid pool," he called it,
out of which Lincoln rose like a flame.3 From many biog-
raphers, some of whom doubtless took their cue from
Herndon and from Lamon, who relied entirely on the in-
formation he bought from Herndon, we have been given
a picture of Lincoln's early days and of his father which is

38 Legends That Libel Lincoln

darker than that which Herndon gave. Many writers have
taken liberties with their source material and have made
much more critical statements and used adjectives much
harsher than one finds in Herndon's own biography or in
the original sources upon which he relied. Thus, little by
little, the legendary picture of Thomas Lincoln has been
created.

What is this legendary picture? Let me show it to you
in a few quotations from different writers. William H.
Herndon quotes a characterization of Thomas Lincoln as
a "blank but a clever man," a most curious combination.4
He also describes him as "roving and shiftless . . . pro-
verbially slow in movement, mentally and physically . . .
careless, inert and dull." 5 Just how a dull man can also
be clever is something to arouse wonder, but this contra-
diction is typical of those found in many biographies.
Mr. Herndon also tells us that "at the time of his marriage
to Nancy Hanks he [Thomas] could neither read nor
write" and that "He was placed in possession of several
tracts of land at different times in his life, but was never
able to pay for a single one of them." 6 Here we have the
first outline of the legendary picture — a roving, shiftless,
dull, illiterate man who never paid for a single farm on
which he lived. Ward H. Lamon, following the lead of
Herndon, helps to make the lines of this portrait bolder.
He would have us believe that Thomas was the black
sheep of his family, for he writes that he "seems to have
been the only member of the family whose character was
not entirely respectable. He was idle, thriftless, poor, a
hunter and a rover," and "the only remarkable achieve-
ment of his life," according to Lamon, was the fact that he
once whipped a bully. Lamon declares that while Thomas

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 39

in his "vagrant career" acquired a "very limited knowl-
edge of the carpenter trade . . . nobody alleges that he
ever built a house, or pretended to do more than a few-
little odd jobs connected with such an undertaking." He
also tells us that Thomas ,could not read or write until
taught to do so by his wife after he was married.7 Thus
created by Herndon and Lamon, the picture of Thomas
Lincoln has come down through the years. Writing at a
much later date, Nathaniel W. Stephenson adds his bit to
the earlier picture. He describes Thomas Lincoln as a
"shiftless fellow, never succeeding at anything, who could
neither read nor write." 8 and calls him an "incurable
vagrant" whose "successive farms, bought on credit, were
never paid for." 9 Stephenson likes the word "vagrant,"
for he writes: "Vagrants, or little better than vagrants,
were Thomas Lincoln and his family making their way to
Indiana." 10 In his book Lincoln, Master of Men, devoted
to a study of certain phases of Lincoln as president, Alonzo
Rothschild refers to Thomas Lincoln, in an offhand man-
ner, as a "ne'er-do-well father, destined to drift from one
badly tilled patch of land to another. . . ." 1X Raymond
Holden, whose concern is with Abraham Lincoln as a
politician, also casually refers to Thomas Lincoln as "al-
ways shiftless and improvident" 12 and as "always moving
about aimlessly." 31 According to J. Rogers Gore, "Rest-
lessness was his pet weakness. He had a wandering foot,
and looking for other locations for a home was his
hobby." 14 Ignorance, illiteracy, and dullness are qualities
ascribed to him by many writers, Beveridge speaking of
his "pallid mind."

That is the picture of Thomas Lincoln that has become
legendary — the picture of a dull, illiterate, shiftless vagrant

40 Legends That Libel Lincoln

and ne'er-do-well, improvident and poverty-stricken, al-
ways restlessly on the move, who never paid for a single
piece of land. It is not a pleasant picture, nor is it a true
one. Nevertheless, it persists in spite of much contradic-
tory evidence and information published in recent years.
Why have we been so willing to dishonor the father of
Abraham Lincoln? The memory of his mother, of whom
surprisingly little is known, is revered, and should be if
for no other reason than the accident of birth. Should not
the father's memory be honored for the same reason? In-
stead, it has been dragged through the dirt. It seems to be
an American trait to minimize the role of the father as
contrasted to that of the mother. Mother love is referred
to far oftener than father love, and the mother's influence
in the home is spoken of much more frequently than that
of the father. We have been told much about the influ-
ence of Nancy Hanks Lincoln on Abraham, during the
first nine years of his life, but nothing has been said of the
influence of his father throughout the first twenty-one
years. The years from nine to twenty-one in a boy's life are
important ones in the building of character. The boy be-
comes observant; he begins to form habits that are shaped,
sometimes unconsciously, by the examples of others, par-
ticularly of those close to him. These are the formative
years. In these years Abraham was under the influence of
his father and his stepmother. Sarah Bush Lincoln cannot
be too highly honored for her part in helping to mold
Abraham Lincoln's character. The role of a stepmother is
a difficult one to fill, and she filled it beautifully. And the
role of a stepfather is an equally difficult one, and Thomas
Lincoln filled it well. To join two families of children into
one, so that they live together harmoniously and happily

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 41

for many years, requires kindly understanding, patience,
and tact on the part of both parents. That is what Thomas
and Sarah Bush Lincoln did, and Thomas's stepson lived
in this home throughout the remaining years of his life.
Into this home Thomas, out of the kindness of his heart,
had already taken Dennis Hanks to live, after Dennis's
foster parents had died.

I have no intention of trying to make anyone believe
that Thomas Lincoln was an unusual man. If he had not
had so distinguished a son as Abraham no general interest
would ever have been manifested in him, just as is the case
with most men long years after death. He was a very ordi-
nary man, probably no better or no worse than thousands
of other pioneers who helped to open up the West. The
world is largely made up of ordinary men and women,
plodders many of them, who do not make much progress
so far as their own fortunes are concerned, but who do
manage to take care of themselves, to adhere to decent
standards of conduct, and to bring up their children ac-
cording to such standards. On rare occasions, out of the
mass of ordinary, plodding people, there arises a genius.
Let us not measure the plodders by the genius, and let us
not measure Thomas Lincoln by his son.

* That, I believe, is what many writers have done.
Primarily interested in the life of Abraham Lincoln, which
deeply moves them, they have been confounded by the
contrast between him and his father. Using Abraham Lin-
coln as a measuring stick, they have found that Thomas
makes a poor showing, forgetting that this is far too lofty
a standard to use in judging anyone. Thomas Lincoln most
certainly was not a genius. He was a plodder, uneducated,
almost illiterate, but not utterly ignorant as has been as-

42 Legends That Libel Lincoln

serted. He was poor, but not poverty-stricken or destitute.
In fact he was a property owner throughout his adult
years, owned horses and livestock, and had money on many
occasions when it was needed, in a time when money was
scarce and hard to obtain. He was easygoing rather than
ambitious, but he had the ability and willingness to work
hard when necessary. He was a man of good habits and de-
cent standards, who took a modest part in the affairs of his
community, a faithful member of his church, kindly and
friendly, with a reputation for absolute honesty.

This is the picture of Thomas Lincoln which I form
after reading studies made of him in recent years by recog-
nized authorities as well as the testimony of individuals
who knew him. For fear, in view of what I have said re-
garding the testimony of individuals, that I may be charged
with accepting that which supports my thesis while reject-
ing or discrediting that which does not, let me emphasize
that I do not wish to be understood as making a blanket
indictment of individual reminiscences. I merely wish to
bring to mind some well-recognized failings of human
memory and to say that, from a historical standpoint, all
reminiscences should be carefully examined and checked
by other sources of information, if possible. Obviously, if
several people remember an event in essentially the same
way, that event probably happened in about that way. And
if all recollections of a man are in virtual agreement, we
can form a fairly accurate picture of that man. It is inter-
esting to note that we find such agreement of testimony re-
garding Thomas Lincoln's kindly nature and his honesty.
However, the picture I have formed of Thomas Lincoln is
Dnly in a small degree based on the testimony of individ-
uals. It is largely based on documentary evidence that has

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 43

been uncovered by painstaking and patient research on the
part of several people, foremost among whom is Dr. Louis
A. Warren. Valuable contributions have been made by
others, notably by Dr. William E. Barton and Ida M.
Tarbell.

Throughout several years, during which he lived in
the Lincoln country of Kentucky, Dr. Warren searched for
old records of the Lincoln family in many different county
courthouses or wherever else he could find them. The
number of documents relating to Thomas Lincoln which
he discovered to be still in existence, after a century of
neglect, is astonishing; over one hundred, he tells us.15 In
1926 he published the results of his work in a book entitled
Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, a most interesting and
valuable source of information which he has supplemented
by numerous monographs.

It is not my purpose to give a complete biography of
Thomas Lincoln or to delve deeply into his ancestry. How-
ever, because so many disparaging statements have been
made about Abraham Lincoln's family background, Wood-
row Wilson describing it as "the most unpromising stock
on the continent, the 'poor white trash' of the South," 16
it is desirable to present a brief outline of his Lincoln
ancestry, which is our chief concern in this study. The
first of the Lincoln family to settle in this country was
Samuel Lincoln, who came to Hingham, Massachusetts,
in 1637. In each generation following Samuel there were
pioneers who joined the westward push to open up and
conquer the wilderness, and to extend the borders of our
country. We owe much to those pioneers. Restless they
may have been, but wanderers and vagrants they certainly
were not. Wanderers and vagrants are purposeless. In each

44 Legends That Libel Lincoln

generation there were those who did not push on, but
remained to help build up the colonies which their fathers
had assisted in opening up. Nathaniel W. Stephenson
would have us believe that the pioneer members of the
Lincoln family ''sank speedily to the bottom of the social
scale." 17 Let us see. Mordecai Lincoln, one of the grand-
sons of Samuel, moved first to Monmouth County, New
Jersey, where he and his brother established an iron
foundry. Later he moved to Pennsylvania, and in 1733
built a house in Berks County, which still stands. He
became a justice of the peace and an inspector of high-
ways. WHen he died he was the owner of at least one
thousand acres of land in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
and left considerable personal property, as shown by his
will.18

John Lincoln, a son of Mordecai and great-grand-
father of the president, inherited 300 acres of land in New
Jersey. He made numerous profitable land investments
and, in 1768, purchased 600 acres of land in Rockingham
County, Virginia. Of "Virginia John," as he has been
called, Ida M. Tarbell wrote, in 1924: "John Lincoln
founded a line in the Shenandoah Valley that has carried
on to this day, as his father did in Pennsylvania and his
grandfather and great-grandfather in Massachusetts. . . .
John Lincoln stamped himself into that country and lives
there through those that have come after him." 19

One of John's sons was Abraham, the father of
Thomas. After Abraham's marriage in 1770, his father
deeded 210 acres of land to him and somewhat later he
purchased an aditional 52 acres. In 1776, he served as
captain in the Virginia Militia, and in 1776, 1777 and
1778, served as judge advocate. In the words of Miss Tar-

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 45

bell, this Abraham Lincoln "lived ... in one of the
most irresistible migratory currents that ever ran across
this country, something that had more of the dash and
the pull of California in '49 than anything we have ever
seen. It was Kentucky that pulled Abraham Lincoln." In
1780, Abraham, grandfather of the president, sold his Vir-
ginia lands and bought 400 acres in Jefferson County,
Kentcky.20 He continued to acquire land until, at the
time he was killed by an Indian in 1786, he was the owner
of 5,544 acres, according to Dr. Warren.21

From this brief outline it will be seen that the direct
forebears of Thomas Lincoln were a long way from being
"poor white trash," as they have so often been called.
They were not at "the bottom of the social scale," nor
were they "drifting, roaming people, struggling with
poverty" as we have been told. They formed an ancestry
of which any man might well be proud. Nevertheless, the
legendary idea of a poverty-stricken ancestry still lingers
in many minds. It was expressed in a story about
Thomas Lincoln's father, mentioned in an earlier chapter.
In this story, Joel Townsley Rogers, the author, tells us
that "the weight of poverty . . . had always lain heavily" on
the shoulders of Thomas's father, and that "even as a boy
there had never been any time for him of carefree joy."
"Hunger and want . . . had been his in full measure,"
according to this story, which pictures him as "a hewer of
wood for other men, a plower of others' fields, a wander-
ing trapper, and a landless squatter." 22 The owner of
several thousand acres a landless squatter! Truly the
writers of fiction contribute more to the persistency of
some Lincoln legends than does any other class of writers.

The children of this Abraham Lincoln were left to

46 Legends That Libel Lincoln

shift for themselves at an early age. The oldest child in
the family was only fifteen years of age when the father
was killed, and Thomas was not over ten years of age.
Many say that he was only six years old. Exactly what
happened to the family after the father's tragic death is
not known. Dr. Warren believes that the widow, Ber-
sheba or Bathsheba (both names have been used), was
able to make a home for her children in Washington
County, Kentucky, until 1801, by which time all but
Thomas had been married.23 Also, there is uncertainty as
to what became of the extensive landholdings of Thomas's
father. Many students say that the old law of primogeni-
ture was in effect, and that the oldest son, Mordecai, in-
herited everything. But this law, as Beveridge points out,
was repealed by Virginia in 1785. Beveridge and a few
others believe that Mordecai sold parcels of this land,
from time to time, and distributed some of the proceeds
among members of his family, and that in this way Thomas
obtained the money with which he purchased a farm in
1803. Beveridge makes a positive statement to this effect
and cites, as his authority, Dr. William E. Barton's book
The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln. On examining this
reference, however, one is surprised to find that Dr. Bar-
ton makes no positive statement; he merely expresses his
belief that this may have happened.24 Dr. Barton gives the
basis for his belief — and it is a reasonable one — but no
positive proof has ever been found, and the question still
remains unsettled.

At one time Abraham Lincoln wrote that, in his early
days, his father was a "wandering laboring-boy." 25 This
does not necessarily mean that he was a homeless waif or
that he wandered continually or far afield, as we have

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 47

been told. Dr. Warren makes this statement: "There is
no evidence that he [Thomas Lincoln] was forced to leave
his mother's cabin at an unreasonable age and gain his
livelihood among strangers. Neither was he left to 'beg,
starve or steal as he might select, by his unnatural breth-
ren,' as one authority affirms." 26

The first public record relating to Thomas Lincoln
which Dr. Warren uncovered is dated 1792, and shows
him listed by his mother on the commissioners' book of
Washington County as a child between sixteen and twenty
years.27 This would put the year of his birth as somewhere
between 1772 and 1776. In 1795, his name appears on the
rolls of a militia company in Washington County and, in
that year and the next, on the tax records of that county,
still between the ages of sixteen and twenty years.28 In
1797, his name appears on the records of Hardin County
as a "white male twenty-one or over." 29 Since, in 1796,
he was listed as not over twenty years old and, in 1797,
as twenty-one years or over, Dr. Warren believes that this
establishes the year of his birth as 1776, instead of 1778
or 1780, as sometimes given. In 1796 and 1797, Thomas
Lincoln was working on the construction of a mill and
milldam for Samuel Haycraft, of Elizabethtown.30 Dr.
Warren discovered the original Haycraft account book,
which shows regular payments made to Thomas Lincoln.
Although mutilated and not complete, this book shows
that at least twenty-six pounds was paid to him in the
period covered by the pages that remain.31 It is thought
by some that Thomas Lincoln first learned his trade of
carpentry while employed on this mill-construction work.
The tradition is that he learned this trade from Joseph
Hanks about the year 1805 or 1806, and that it was while

48 Legends That Libel Lincoln

working for Joseph Hanks in Elizabethtown that he first
met Nancy. There seems to be no evidence to support
this tradition, and there is some that discredits it. Accord-
ing to Dr. Warren, there is no evidence that Joseph Hanks
"ever lived in Elizabethtown until after his marriage in
1810." 32

No record of the year 1798 bearing the name of
Thomas Lincoln has yet been found, the only year from
1795 to 1816 in which this is the case. It is probable that
he was living in this year with his uncle Isaac in Ten-
nessee, for we learn from his son that he spent a year
there.33 But in 1799, and for the next several years, he was
back in Washington County, Kentucky, and regularly
was taxed on from one to three horses.34 In 1801, accord-
ing to a record found by Dr. Warren, Thomas Lincoln
seems to have bought 200 acres of land in Cumberland
County, Kentucky.31 No record of the disposal of this
land has ever been found, so far as I have been able to
discover, and there seems to be no knowledge of what he
did with it.

In 1802, Thomas, his mother, two sisters and their
husbands, moved to Hardin County, Kentucky, and in
1803 he bought a farm of 230 acres on Mill Creek for the
"sum of one hundred and eighteen pounds in hand paid,"
the deed being dated September 2, 1803.36 It is not known
whether Thomas ever lived on this farm or not. Dr. War-
ren believes that he may have established his mother and
one of his married sisters there, and that possibly he lived
there himself for a time. It seems quite certain that he
operated this farm, for in 1804 he was given credit at a
store in Elizabethtown for pork in the amount of three
pounds, and in 1806 a similar credit of over twenty-one

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 49

pounds for pork and beef.37 From 1803 through 1808, the
name of Thomas Lincoln appears regularly on various
records of Hardin County and of Elizabethtown. He
served on juries, and tax records show him owning one
or two horses. His name appears on a petition to open a
road which later became part of the Dixie Highway. He
was paid for guarding a prisoner. He served as a road
patroller, one of whose duties was to keep a check on slaves
found on the roads.38 The ledger of the Bleakley and
Montgomery store in Elizabethtown is still in existence
and shows many purchases made by him, a hat, for ex-
ample, costing one pound and sixteen shillings,39 rather
an expensive hat for an allegedly poverty-stricken man.
It shows the purchase of goods, evidently for his wedding
outfit, in 1806, the total cost of materials running to thir-
teen pounds or more.40 In the first few months of 1806,
before his marriage to Nancy Hanks, Thomas Lincoln
was given credit on the books of the Bleakley and Mont-
gomery store of more than fifty pounds,41 part of this
being payment for a flatboat trip which he made to New
Orleans for the owners of the store. Certainly Nancy
Hanks did not marry a ne'er-do-well or a poverty-stricken
man.

After their marriage in Washington County on June
12, 1806, Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln apparently
went immediately to Elizabethtown to live, for the Bleak-
ley and Montgomery ledger shows the purchase of knives
and forks and other merchandise on June 14. 42 Records
of purchases and credits continue throughout 1806, 1807,
and 1808. Thomas served several times on juries in the
next few years, and there is another record of his being
paid for guarding a prisoner. Tax records show that he

50 Legends That Libel Lincoln

owned one lot in 1807 and two lots and a house in 1808.43
There is the record of a suit which he filed against Denton
Geoheagan, to collect payment for work done for him, and
of the judgment granted to Thomas Lincoln, which was
sustained on an appeal. Later, Geoheagan sued Thomas
for damages, alleging that his work had been faulty, but
the record shows that Geoheagan withdrew this suit and
paid Thomas's costs to him.44

It is interesting to note how this controversy with
Geoheagan is treated by different writers. Those who ap-
parently have formed an unfavorable opinion of Thomas
Lincoln, which they wish to pass on to their readers, give
him no credit for being vindicated by two different courts
and by the later withdrawal of a third suit on the part of
his opponent. Beveridge, for example, voices the thought
that Thomas may have moved from Elizabethtown as the
result of his controversy with Geoheagan, which, Bever-
idge thinks, may have ruined his business as a carpenter.45
This does not seem to be either reasonable or logical, for
it must be remembered that Geoheagan alleged that
Thomas's work was faulty, and completely failed to prove
his charge in court. I think Carl Sandburg is far more
likely to be correct when he writes that "Tom's reputation
as a solid, reliable man, whose word could be depended
on, was improved after his quarrels with Denton Geo-
heagan." 46 Thus two students reach diametrically oppo-
site conclusions from the same facts. How much may one
of them have been influenced by the traditional picture
of Thomas Lincoln?

Many disparaging descriptions have been given of the
Lincoln cabin in Elizabethtown. Ward H. Lamon calls it
"a shed in one of the alleys of Elizabethtown," and writes:

TJiomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 51

"It was a very sorry building and nearly bare of furniture.
It stands yet or did stand in 1866, to witness for itself
the wretched poverty of its early inmates. It is about
fourteen feet square, has been thrice removed, twice used
as a slaughter house, and once as a stable." 47 To judge
the condition of a cabin in 1806 by its appearance sixty
years later, particularly when it had been moved three
times, and used as a slaughterhouse and a stable, is hardly
just. No one has positive knowledge of what the cabin
was like, how it was furnished, or where it was located.
There has been much controversy over this Elizabethtown
cabin. Even if Mr. Lamon was correct in locating the
cabin, his use of the word "alley" is probably misleading,
for it is doubtful if Elizabethtown, in 1806, had any alleys
as we now interpret that word. There is reason to believe
that the cabin of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln was every
bit as good as many other cabins in the town at that time.
In 1869, Samuel Haycraft, one of the leading citizens of
the town and county, wrote a history of Elizabethtown.
In this he mentions several "similar buildings" that "were
erected by Thomas Lincoln (father of the President)" and
by twelve other men whom he named.48 So, if Thomas
and Nancy Lincoln lived in a shed, apparently many of
their neighbors did likewise. While in Elizabethtown,
Thomas Lincoln worked on the house belonging to
Samual Haycraft's father, and did all the carpentry work
on the home or Hardin Thomas, described as "rather
better than usual for that day." 49 On this latter house his
workmanship was so good that, in 1869, Samuel Haycraft
reported it to be "sound as a trout, although done upwards
of sixty years ago." 50 In the years spent in Elizabethtown,
Thomas made a favorable impression on others. Haycraft

52 Legends That Libel Lincoln

spoke of him as a "plain, unpretending and scrupulously
honest man," and E. R. Burba, another leading citizen of
the town, called him a "strictly honest hard working
man." 51 Beveridge says that particular credit should be
given to statements made by both Haycraft and Burba,
who were men of integrity and, in his opinion, witnesses
of "the highest possible credibility." 52

Some time in 1808, Thomas Lincoln and his family
moved to a farm of 348 1/£ acres which he bought on Nolin
Creek — the birthplace farm, as it has become known.
The exact date of this move has not been established,
but the purchase of the farm for $200 cash was completed
in December, 1808.53 Thus, again, Thomas Lincoln paid
cash for a farm according to public records, again refuting
the oft-repeated assertion that he obtained all his land on
credit and never paid for a single piece.

This brings us to the close of one period in our story,
the years before the birth of Abraham Lincoln. In those
years we find that Thomas Lincoln was a hard-working,
honest young man who had made his own way from an
early age and had done so creditably. He owned two large
farms, almost 550 acres in all, and apparently still owned
a house and two lots in Elizabethtown. He had good credit
and a good reputation. To be sure, he had done some
moving about before his marriage, but in most of those
years the records show that he was in either Washington
or Hardin County. He probably had few, if any, home
responsibilities as a boy, for his two older brothers were at
home in Washington County with his mother and sisters.
He worked where he could find work to be done, and he
learned a trade. Dr. Warren has this to say about this
period of his life: "The writer, after examining thousands

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 53

of public records in Kentucky, affirms that there is no
document of which he is aware that is detrimental in any
way to the reputation of Thomas Lincoln. ... If Thomas
Lincoln contributed any innate tendencies to his illus-
trious son they would have found expression in his own
life previous to Abraham's birth. . . . Humility, sobriety,
industry and integrity are some of the traits that charac-
terized the Thomas Lincoln we know in this early period
of his life. ... Of this we are sure, that Thomas Lincoln
did not handicap Abraham by passing on to him traits of
character that would need to be corrected, and which
would stand in the way of his son's progress." 54

On January 9, 1809, there is another record of a
court order directing that three pounds and ten shillings
be paid to Thomas Lincoln for guarding a prisoner.55
On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. Many
different stories have been told about what took place
on that day in the Lincoln cabin and much, very much,
has been written regarding the wretchedness of that little
home; "a miserable hovel," 56 a '"hunter's hut not fit to
be called a home," 57 it has been designated. If all the
people who later claimed to have rushed to the aid of
Nancy Hanks Lincoln on that morning were really present
in the cabin, it would have been filled to overflowing.
No one really knows what took place in the Lincoln cabin
on February 12, 1809, nor are there any reliable descrip-
tions of the cabin itself, or of its furnishings. Paul M.
Angle makes this comment: "Of the circumstances of that
birth nothing definite is known. We may assume, how-
ever, that the surroundings were no meaner than those to
be found in thousands of frontier cabins; and probably,

54 Legends That Libel Lincoln

in view of what is known of Thomas Lincoln at this time,
that they were better than many." 58

In 1811 the Lincoln family moved to another farm on
Knob Creek, about ten miles from the birthplace farm.
This move may have been made because of the poor
quality of the soil on the Nolin Creek farm, which often
is described as being in a section called "The Barrens,"
whereas the bottom lands of the Knob Creek farm are
noted to this day for their fertility. Most writers have
given 1813 or 1814 as the year of this move. Dr. Warren,
however, discovered a notice dated in 1811, telling of a
stray horse which "Thomas Lincoln in Hardin County
on Knob Creek" found wandering on a certain road.59
He also found that, in 1811, the name of Thomas Lincoln
was listed in an entirely different group of taxpayers
from that in which it was listed in 1810. Taxpayers, he
discovered, were listed by districts, and this change is a
further indication that this move to Knob Creek was made
in 181 1.60 The record of this Knob Creek farm of Thomas
Lincoln's is not clear. He seems to have purchased it on
a contract, or title bond, a method frequently used in
those days. The deed record to this farm has not been
found, but the land was listed for taxation in Thomas's
name in 1815.61 He may have completed payment in that
year or the year before, for in 1814 there is the record
of his sale of the Mill Creek farm for one hundred pounds
cash, and this money may have been used to pay for the
Knob Creek farm.62 Tradition gives the size of this farm
as 30 acres, but the 1815 tax listing is for 230 acres.63

In the years spent on Knob Creek the Lincoln family,
according to Beveridge, lived in "abject poverty."64 Wood-
row Wilson has written of the "degrading poverty" of

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 55

those years.65 Others have written in a similar vein. Wilson
does not cite his authority for his assertion, but Beveridge
does. It is Austin Gollaher, who at one time could re-
member so little and at a later date could remember so
much. In this case Gollaher gave his information to a
man named Atherton. Atherton gave it to another who,
in turn, gave it to Mr. Beveridge in 1924. Such a state-
ment, from such a source, is not evidence, nor is it
sufficiently reliable testimony upon which to base a posi-
tive statement. Children who live for several years under
conditions of abject poverty are usually ill-fed and under-
nourished, and seldom grow into healthy men and women.
Abraham Lincoln gave no indication of an under-
nourished childhood. Stories of his physical strength are
almost fabulous, and the physicians who attended him on
his deathbed spoke of his remarkable physique. Beveridge
also remarks that the Lincoln family, while living on
Knob Creek, made so little impression on their neighbors
that few were able to recall them fifty or more years later.
"Indeed," he says, "no family in all Kentucky was more
obscure; those who lived near by took no notice of the
Lincolns." 66 That is a sweeping statement, and one won-
ders what Mr. Beveridge knew about all the other families
in the entire state of Kentuckv at that time. It is not
surprising that few people were able to remember the
Lincoln family a half century or more after they left
Kentucky. Many families, no doubt, are forgotten in less
time. No one claims that the Lincoln family was an out-
standing one in Kentucky, or that Abraham was other
than an average small boy. No later interest would have
been manifested in the family had it not been for Abra-
ham's rise to fame. This, however, does not necessarily

56 Legends That Libel Lincoln

indicate that the family was obscure, or that no neighbors
took any notice of Thomas Lincoln. On the contrary,
there is evidence that others did take some notice of him.
Let us turn again to the records.

The name of Thomas Lincoln appears frequently on
public records during the years in which he lived on Knob
Creek. He served on several juries. In 1814 he was ap-
pointed as one of the appraisers of the estate of Jonathan
Joseph.67 Tax records show him regularly being taxed on
from one to five horses, and 1814 tax records place him
as fifteenth out of ninety-eight taxpayers, listed in his dis-
trict, in property values.68 In 1815, out of one hundred
and four taxpayers in his district, only six were taxed on
as many or more horses than Thomas Lincoln.69 Abject
and degrading poverty is not indicated by these public
records. There are records of purchases made by Thomas
Lincoln at public sales, on one occasion buying the highest
priced heifer that was sold. In May, 1816, he was appointed
road surveyor, with several men named to assist him, for
a section of one of the most important roads in the district.
Beveridge ventures the opinion that this appointment
may have hastened his decision to move to Indiana, which
he did later in that year. He writes that Thomas Lincoln
"had no taste for public service, even the humblest; and
while the duties of road 'surveyor,' as it was called, were
slight and without pay, they would have laid some addi-
tional burdens on Lincoln's reluctant shoulders." 70 That
is an unfair statement to make, and I think I can prove
my assertion by Beveridge himself. In a footnote Beveridge
outlines the duties of a road surveyor, or supervisor, as he
really was, one who was charged with the responsibility
of seeing that taxpayers living along the road did mainte-

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 57

nance work in lieu of paying taxes. He was also responsible
for keeping the road in usable condition, with penalties
imposed by law for failure to do so. This road law was
unpopular, and taxpayers often sought to evade it. Bev-
eridge states: "The man ordered to oversee a road was
considered unlucky. The Kentucky law under which
Thomas Lincoln was designated was rather severe. The
sheriff was fined for failure to serve the order of the
court on the road surveyor or even failure to execute the
order; and the surveyor fined from $2.50 to $10.00 for
failure 'to perform agreeably the law.' " 71 If Thomas was
reluctant, as Beveridge says, although it is difficult to see
how he could know this, it would seem that Beveridge
himself gave good reason for any such reluctance. Whether
reluctant or not, Thomas Lincoln did not shirk the duties
of this unwelcome office, nor was he fined for neglect of
duty as were other men including, we are told, his brother
Mordecai.

The reasons for the move of the Lincoln family to
Indiana in the latter part of 1816 have been much dis-
cussed. Ward H. Lamon asserted that Thomas Lincoln
moved principally because of a savage fight he had with
a neighbor in which he bit off part of his opponent's
nose,72 a tale based solely upon gossip, and one which has
long since been thoroughly discredited. Nathaniel W.
Stephenson would have us believe that Thomas was forced
to move because he could "no longer impose himself on
his community," 73 an utterly baseless statement, and a
cruel one. In i860, in preparing material to be used in a
campaign biography, Abraham Lincoln wrote: "This re-
moval was partly on account of slavery, but chiefly on
account of the difficulty in land titles in Kentucky." 74

58 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Both of these reasons have been flatly denied by many
biographers who, however, are careful to refrain from
telling their readers that they are reasons given by Lincoln.
Lamon's treatment of the slavery reason is typical of that
given by many writers. He writes: "It has pleased some of
Mr. Lincoln's biographers to represent this removal of
his father as a flight from the taint of slavery. Nothing
could be further from the truth." 75 Beveridge quotes the
reasons given by Lincoln, but contradicts him: "We
now know that these were not the reasons for the migra-
tion." 76 Beveridge gives reasons for his opinion, but he
presents no proof that Lincoln was incorrect in his state-
ment, nor does he tell us how we positively know that
Lincoln was wrong. As to the slavery reason advanced by
Abraham Lincoln, some claim that Thomas was too dull
a man to take any interest in the slave problem, but that
is pure guesswork. Others reiterate the old assertion that
there were few slaves in Hardin County, Kentucky, during
the years in which the Lincoln family lived there. Hern-
don claimed that there were not over fifty slaves in the
whole county at that time.77 Tax records, however, show
that in 1811 there were 1,007 slaves listed for taxation in
Hardin County, and that in the same year the white male
population over sixteen years of age was i,627-78 Many
say that Abraham Lincoln never manifested any large in-
terest in the slavery problem in his early years, and believe
that this indicates that there was no strong anti-slavery at-
mosphere in his childhood home. No one knows positively
whether there was such an atmosphere or not. It is known,
however, that Thomas Lincoln was a member of that
branch of the Baptist Church which was vigorously op-
posing slavery, and church records of that time reflect

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 59

bitter controversy on the subject.79 How active a part
Thomas Lincoln may have taken in this controversy is
not known, but he undoubtedly heard much vigorous
preaching against slavery in his church, and lived for
years in a strong anti-slavery atmosphere. In 1858, Abra-
ham Lincoln made a speech in Chicago in which he said:
"I have always hated slavery, I think, as much as any
abolitionist . . ." 80 In i86zt, he wrote: "I am naturally
anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
I cannot remember when I did not so think and
feel . . ." 81 These statements clearly indicate that he
imbibed a belief in the evils of slavery in his boyhood
home, although he was not an abolitionist and took no
part in the anti-slavery agitation until there was danger
of the spread of slavery. I am reluctant to believe that
Abraham Lincoln was writing solely for political effect
when, in i860, he gave slavery as one of the reasons for
his family's move to Indiana.

There is good reason to believe that difficulty with
land titles was an important influence in favor of the
move to Indiana, as Abraham Lincoln stated, in spite of
the denials on the part of various biographers. To some
writers, Thomas Lincoln needed no reason for this move
other than his traditional wandering foot. Thomas Lin-
coln had purchased three different farms in Kentucky,
and had met with difficulty with each purchase through
no fault of his own. A defective survey of the Mill Creek
farm caused him to lose 30 acres, and he was able to sell
only 200 of the 230 for which he had paid cash. He lost
his Nolin Creek farm through a lawsuit, but was given a
judgment of $200 and costs against the man from whom
he had bought it. This, however, was not until late in

60 Legends That Libel Lincoln

1816, when he was preparing to move to Indiana. It was
then necessary for him to enter suit in an attempt to
collect his judgment, but there is no record of his ever
having received payment. Together with several of his
neighbors, an ejectment suit was filed against him on his
Knob Creek farm in 1815. After several years' litigation,
Thomas won this suit, but he had already moved to
Indiana and probably had disposed of his interest in the
farm before he moved. The tradition, often repeated, is
that he sold his Knob Creek farm for $300, taking pay-
ment in a small amount of cash but principally in whisky,
which he transported to Indiana. No record of such a sale
has ever been discovered, so far as I have seen, nor has
any evidence ever been produced to support the whisky
tradition. It seems to rest largely on the statement of
Dennis Hanks. It is found, however, in a book entitled
The Pioneer Boy, which was published in 1863 and has
been characterized by a close student of Lincoln literature
as "ninety per cent fiction." This story of President Lin-
coln's boyhood seems to have been very popular at the
time of its publication, and some students wonder whether
Dennis Hanks and others may not have had their mem-
ories influenced and stimulated by the stories it told.
Inasmuch as Thomas Lincoln's title to this farm was dis-
puted, with an ejectment suit pending, it is doubtful if
anyone would have paid so substantial a sum for land so
involved. Furthermore, if this farm was one of only 30
acres, as is generally stated, a price of $10 per acre was
far higher than the prevailing price of land at that time.
Both William E. Barton and Louis A. Warren dwell
on the difficulties with land titles and surveys experienced
by many Kentucky settlers. Virginia opened up the lands

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 61

of the Kentucky territory without any official survey. Set-
tlers and large speculative land companies were permitted
to select the land they desired and to make their own
surveys, which were sent back to Virginia. This resulted in
many conflicting surveys, many disputes and lawsuits, with
resulting losses and heartaches to large numbers of people.
Through such difficulties Daniel Boone lost his lands,
became discouraged, and moved to Missouri.

After three unhappy and costly experiences, it would
seem that Thomas Lincoln had good reason to be dis-
couraged and to wish to move to a state in which the
land was officially surveyed and conveyed by the govern-
ment.

Thus we bring the Lincoln family to Indiana. The
search which Dr. Warren made through county records
was not extended to this state. There are, however, a
number of records of Thomas Lincoln's church which
show that he took an active part in the life of his com-
munity. He helped to build the Pigeon Creek Church
building in 1822 and constructed the door and window
frames and the pulpit that was used for seventy-five years.
He joined this church by letter from his Kentucky church
and became one of its leading members, serving on various
committees, as a delegate to a church conference, as
moderator at various meetings, and for three years as
trustee. From her examination of the original church
minute book, Ida M. Tarbell declares that Thomas Lin-
coln "was one of the five or six most important men" in
the congregation.82

Every writer, in telling of the Lincoln family in
Indiana, describes the half-faced camp which Thomas is
said to have built when he first reached that state, and in

62 Legends That Libel Lincoln

which his family is said to have lived throughout the first
winter. This shelter, with only three sides and a roof,
the fourth side being entirely open to the weather, except
for a large fire kept always burning, is held up as a glaring
example of Thomas's shiftlessness, this and beds of leaves
covered with skins, on which the members of the family
are alleged to have slept like dogs. This is the tradition,
but no evidence or proof in support of it has ever been
presented. Like the whisky story, this half-faced camp
tradition seems to rest on the statement of one man,
Dennis Hanks, although it, too, is found in The Pioneer
Boy. No neighbors of the Lincoln family in Indiana who
made statements to Herndon or to others have ever men-
tioned this half-faced camp, so far as I can discover. One
student of pioneer history in Indiana tells me that half-
faced camps were rather frequently used while the real
cabin was being erected, but that a real cabin could be
built in a few days so that there was little need for an
extended use of such a structure. Thomas Lincoln and
his family may have lived in a half-faced camp for a
time, but no one definitely knows whether they did or
not or, if so, for how long a time. Dr. Warren flatly calls
the story of the half-faced camp "absolutely false." 83

We do know, however, that the cabin which Thomas
Lincoln built for his family, and in which they lived for
many years, was a better than ordinary one. It was rather
large for that time, being 18 by 20 feet, and had a low
second story, or loft, which was used as sleeping quarters
by the younger members of the household. Whether this
cabin was left unfinished, without floor or door or win-
dows, until after Thomas's second marriage is not known.
That, again, is the tradition and it, too, seems to rest

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 63

on one man's statement. Thomas's second wife later said
that when she arrived in Indiana her husband had a
"good log cabin, tolerably comfortable." 84 On the whole,
there is no reason to believe that the Lincoln cabin was
poorer than many of its neighboring ones, and there is
some reason to believe that it was better than many. Even
the critical Herndon speaks of it as being "in some re-
spects a pretentious structure." 85

In addition to his work on the Pigeon Creek Church
building, Thomas Lincoln did other carpentry work in
Indiana. William Woods, a neighbor, reported that
"Thomas Lincoln often and at various times worked for
me, made cupboards, etc., other household furniture for
me; he built my house, made floors, ran up the stairs, did
all the inside work for my house." 86 Another neighbor,
Elizabeth Crawford, told of furniture which he made for
her.87 Still another spoke of a wagon which he constructed
entirely of wood for James Gentry.88 Specimens of his
handicraft are still to be seen. There is a cabinet with an
inlaid decoration in the relic room of the Spencer County,
Indiana, courthouse and a similar one in the Public
Museum at Evansville, Indiana.89 Both the Speed Mu-
seum at Louisville and the Ford Museum at Dearborn,
Michigan, have authentic corner cupboards which he
made.90

While in Indiana, Thomas Lincoln and his family
made a favorable impression on their neighbors. Nathaniel
Grigsby said that "Thomas was a man of good morals,
good habits, and exceedingly good humored . . ." 91
Elizabeth Crawford said: "The Lincoln family were good
people, good neighbors; they were honest and hospitable
and very, very sociable." 92 Thus, in his formative years,

64 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was absorbing these qualities from his
father — good morals, good habits, honesty, kindliness —
qualities attested by numerous witnesses in Kentucky and
in Indiana. He himself tells of still another high standard
which he learned from his father. The letters which
Abraham Lincoln wrote to his friend Joshua Speed in
1842 have been widely quoted. Yet no one, at least so far
as I have noted, has taken a sentence from one of those
letters and used it when discussing Thomas Lincoln. In
a letter dated February 25, 1842, Lincoln wrote: "My old
father used to have a saying that 'If you make a bad
bargain, hug it all the tighter.' " 93 From our knowledge
of Abraham Lincoln's mature years, we know that he
learned this lesson. Surely his father set a good example
for him during his formative years.

In 1818, Nancy Hanks Lincoln died. A year later
Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow who was
living with her three children in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
She had known Thomas for many years. Indeed, he is said
to have courted her before her first marriage. There was
probably little about his habits and character that was not
known to her. Would she have married him if he had
been the worthless, shiftless ne'er-do-well he is said to have
been? Incidentally, at first she told him that she could
not marry him because she was in debt. Thomas paid her
debts. This was another occasion on which he had ready
cash when it was needed. Some would have us believe
that Thomas Lincoln deceived Sarah Bush Johnston when
he asked her to marry him, by representing himself as a
far more prosperous farmer than he really was and by
misrepresenting the type and condition of his Indiana
cabin. I fail to find what is their authority for this charge.

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 65

Some have claimed to know what he said to her, but none
of these, so far as I can discover, makes any statement
that justifies this charge. Probably no one really knows
just what passed between these two people when they
decided to marry. Herndon, however, writes: "If the
Lincoln mansion did not in every respect correspond to
the representations made by its owner to the new Mrs.
Lincoln before marriage, the latter gave no expression of
disappointment or even surprise." 94 It is interesting to
note how Ward H. Lamon, using the same source ma-
terial as Herndon, enlarges and elaborates this: "When
she got there [to Indiana] Mrs. Lincoln was much 'sur-
prised' at the contrast between the glowing representa-
tions which her husband had made to her before leaving
Kentucky and the real poverty and meanness of the place.
She had evidently been given to understand that the
bridegroom had reformed his old Kentucky ways, and was
now an industrious and prosperous farmer. She was
scarcely able to restrain the expression of her astonish-
ment and discontent; but, though sadly over-reached in
a bad bargain, her lofty pride and her high sense of
Christian duty saved her from hopeless and useless repin-
ings." 95 It seems quite evident that neither Mr. Herndon
nor Mr. Lamon was able to reconcile the fact that a
woman was willing to marry the Thomas Lincoln of their
description. This compelled them to assert that Thomas
won his second wife by deception. To such lengths will
people go in order to maintain a pet theory.

After fourteen years in Spencer County, Indiana, the
Lincoln family moved to Illinois. Perhaps the lure of
better farm land to be found in Illinois had something
to do with this, for relatives of the family had brought

66 Legends That Libel Lincoln

or sent back reports of the fertility of the prairie lands,
as contrasted to the soil of the Lincoln farm in southern
Indiana. Perhaps, too, the return of the dread "milk-sick-
ness" plague, which had carried off Nancy Hanks Lincoln
and others in 1818, helped to bring about this move. By
this time Thomas was the owner of 100 acres without
encumbrance. He had originally entered 160 acres in the
government land office. Later he relinquished half of this
and completed the payments on the other half, to which
he added 20 acres purchased from someone else. Some
writers speak scornfully of the fact that he did not com-
plete the purchase of the full 160 acres from the govern-
ment, and that he took several years to complete the
payments for the 80 acres to which he was given a govern-
ment patent, but I think those who do this are hunting
for something to critize. He merely availed himself of the
full time granted by the government for payment, some-
thing many another person has done, and he probably
found that a farm of 100 acres was all he could handle.
Many settlers, we are told, relinquished part of the land
they had originally entered. In 1830, Thomas Lincoln
sold his farm and, early in the spring, moved with his
family to Illinois.

During the twenty-four years from the date of his
marriage to Nancy Hanks until his arrival in Illinois,
Thomas Lincoln had moved but four times. Two of those
moves were but a few miles in distance. Between the
years 1811 and 1830 he had moved but once. This fact
does not confirm the statement made by Carl Schurz, that
Thomas Lincoln was "constantly looking for a new piece
of land on which he might make a living without much
work," 96 or similar statements made by others. Of the

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 67

four moves, from 1806 to 1830, inclusive, Abraham Lin-
coln could remember but two, those from Kentucky to
Indiana and from Indiana to Illinois. He more than once
said that his earliest recollections were of the Knob Creek
farm on which he lived for five years. In Indiana he lived
for fourteen years in one spot. There is no reason to
believe that Abraham Lincoln remembered these two
moves with any unhappiness. Indeed, he might well have
recalled them as interesting adventures. Robert E. Sher-
wood, however, in his play, Abe Lincoln in Illinois,
causes him to say: "Yes — I've thought about moving,
think about it all the time. My family have always been
movers, shifting about, never knowing what they were
looking for, and whatever it was, never finding it. . . .
About all I can remember of when I was a boy was
hitching up, and then unhitching, and then hitching up
again." 97 And all he could remember was two "hitching-
ups" and two "unhitchings," separated by fourteen years.
There is little reliable information about Thomas Lin-
coln in Illinois. He first went to Macon County, but about
a year later moved to Coles County, in which he lived for
twenty years until his death in January, 1851. In the first
few years after Abraham left his home, in 1831, Thomas
made two or three moves within Coles County. He seems
not to have been able to gain a good foothold in Illinois,
and his son helped him financially from time to time.
Many men who have done hard physical labor from early
boyhood seem to burn out by the time they are fifty years
old. They are old men except for the number of their
years. Thomas Lincoln may have been such a man who
could not make a new beginning in life at the age of fifty-
four. Ida M. Tarbell says that his health was poor and that

68 Legends That Libel Lincoln

this was a great handicap to him in his efforts to re-estab-
lish himself.98 Another handicap was his stepson, John
D. Johnston, who lived with him. Johnston was in fre-
quent financial straits and made numerous appeals to
Abraham Lincoln for help, and there is some reason to
believe that a few of these appeals were made through his
stepfather. He was the type of son who, after Thomas
Lincoln's death, tried to persuade his mother to sell her
farm and give him a substantial portion of the proceeds.
Abraham Lincoln put a stop to that. Johnston would
have been a heavy load for any man to carry. On the
whole we know little about Thomas Lincoln in his last
years, for historians have followed the path of his son after
he left his father's home. We do, however, find added
testimony to good qualities which he had. The minister
of the church, of which he was a faithful member for
many years, later spoke of him as "always truthful, con-
scientious and religious." " Another tribute was paid to
him by a daughter of Dennis Hanks, which is reported by
Eleanor Atkinson and was briefly referred to in an earlier
chapter. She said: "I don't want you to go away thinking
so bad of Grandfather Lincoln. That's what us younger
ones called Uncle Abe's father; and we called him Uncle
Abe, though he was only father's second cousin ... I am
just tired of hearing Grandfather Lincoln abused. Every-
body runs him down. Father never gave him credit for
what he was. He made a good living, and I reckon he
would have got something ahead if he hadn't been so
generous. He had the old Virginia notion of hospitality —
liked to see people sit up to the table and eat hearty,
and there were always plenty of his relations and grand-
mother's willing to live on him. Uncle Abe got his honesty

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 69

and his clean notions of living and his kind heart from
his father. Maybe the Hanks family was smarter, but some
of them couldn't hold a candle to Grandfather Lincoln,
when it came to morals. I've heard Grandmother Lincoln
say, many a time, that he was kind and loving, and kept
his word, and always paid his way, and never turned a
dog from his door. You couldn't say that of every man,
not even today, when men are decenter than they used
to be." 10° This testimony ties in exactly with that given
by those who knew Thomas Lincoln in Kentucky and
Indiana. He was a man of good morals and standards,
kindly, hospitable, truthful and honest. No one has testi-
fied otherwise.

This is a brief sketch of Thomas Lincoln's life. There
are no high spots, nor are there any very low ones; none,
at least, so low as to remind us of Herndon's "stagnant,
putrid pool." The records discovered by Dr. Warren and
others do not support the charges that he was a "shiftless,
migratory squatter," a "poor specimen of the 'poor
whites,' " who "never paid for a single farm on which
he lived." Let us examine other charges in the light of
the newer information that has been given to us.

Almost every biographer of Abraham Lincoln has
stressed Thomas Lincoln's illiteracy and ignorance. Re-
garding him as a boy, Beveridge says that "no more
ignorant boy than Thomas Lincoln could be found in
the backwoods." 101 This is another of those sweeping
statements which some historians make, and for which
there can be no possible proof. Just what did Mr. Bever-
idge know of the intelligence of every other backwoods
boy in Kentucky at that time? Some writers tell us
that Thomas Lincoln was never able to read or write;

70 Legends That Libel Lincoln

others say that he could not until taught to do so by
Nancy Hanks Lincoln. No signature of hers or any other
writing attributed to her has ever been found, but several
quite legible signatures of Thomas Lincoln has been dis-
covered. The earliest of these appears on a paper dated in
1801,102 five years before his marriage. The next earliest
is dated in 1803.103 Several later signatures have been
found, but no other writing definitely known to be his has
been discovered, although Dr. Warren found a paper
bearing his name that has aroused considerable specula-
tion as to whether he wrote it or not. As to his ability to
read, there is some testimony that he could do so to a
limited extent. According to students of the time, many
people in those days could neither read nor write. Those
who could do both with any degree of facility were excep-
tional, and we read of circuit-riding preachers who were
illiterate or nearly so. After he learned to write, in Indiana,
Abraham Lincoln became the neighborhood letter writer,
serving in that capacity many who could not even write
their names. In this respect Thomas Lincoln seems to
have been somewhat above large numbers of his contem-
poraries.

A limited ability to read and write, or an entire lack
of ability, does not necessarily mean that one is utterly
ignorant. An illiterate person may have a considerable
degree of native intelligence and horse sense. There is
reason to believe that Thomas Lincoln was so equipped.
His appointments as the appraiser of an estate and as a
road supervisor, with others to assist him, are indications
of this. The fact that he frequently served as moderator
at church meetings, that he was selected as a church dele-
gate, was appointed as a member of various committees

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 71

whose duty it was to adjust differences between neighbors,
and that he served for three years as a trustee of his
church, all cause one to believe that he was looked upon
by his neighbors as a man of good sense and judgment,
capable of performing those duties, and upon whom they
could depend. Indeed, these facts all lead to the belief that
he was more intelligent than the average of his neighbors,
both in Kentucky and in Indiana, and that his neighbors
recognized this. They also indicate that his neighbors
trusted him.

Dull, stupid men, men with pallid minds (all char-
acterizations of Thomas Lincoln) are seldom noted for
their ability as clever and entertaining storytellers. Even
writers who apply such adjectives to Thomas in one place
will contradict themselves in another by saying that he
was an unusually clever storyteller, equal in this respect
to his son. There is considerable testimony to this quality
of Thomas Lincoln's on the part of those who knew him,
and it is interesting to find that on one occasion his son
indirectly attested to this. In i860, William Dean Howells
wrote a campaign biography of Abraham Lincoln. A close
friend of Lincoln's, Samuel C. Parks, knowing that Lin-
coln was disturbed because the manuscript of this biog-
raphy had not been submitted to him for approval and
correction, gave Lincoln his copy of the book and asked
him to make in it such corrections as he thought should
be made. Parks's copy of the Howells biography, writh
corrections and marginal notes in Lincoln's handwriting,
has been reproduced in facsimile. In this biography
Howells made this statement about Abraham Lincoln:
"From his father came that knack of story-telling, which
has made him so delightful among acquaintances, and

72 Legends That Libel Lincoln

so irresistible in his stump and forensic drolleries." 104
Abraham Lincoln made numerous corrections and com-
ments in Parks's copy of the book, some of them of a
minor nature, but he left this statement unchanged.

Much has been written about Thomas Lincoln's atti-
tude toward the education his son strove so hard to
acquire. Herndon informs us that "the old gentleman had
but little faith in the value of books or papers ..." 105
and this statement has been reiterated with variations by
many writers. Some express the belief that Abraham's
hunger for an education would have been thwarted had
it not been for the influence and encouragement of his
stepmother. Without wishing to take from her the slightest
degree of credit for all she did to encourage Abraham, I
do not think there is convincing evidence that Thomas
Lincoln was a barrier in his son's road to education. In
his biography Herndon quotes Sarah Bush Lincoln as
saying, in 1865: "I induced my husband to permit Abe
to read and study at home as well as at school. At first
he was not easily reconciled to it, but finally he too
seemed willing to encourage him to a certain extent. Abe
was a dutiful son to me always, and we took particular
care when he was reading not to disturb him — would let
him read on and on till he quit of his own accord." 106
So far as I have been able to learn, Herndon interviewed
Mrs. Lincoln only once, in 1865. In the Herndon papers
edited by Emanuel Hertz appears the full statement made
by Mrs. Lincoln to Herndon on September 8, 1865. In
this published statement, the sentence in which she tells
how she "induced" her husband to permit Abe to study
at home, and how he was not easily reconciled to this,
does not appear. Furthermore, the phrase "we took par-

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 73

ticular care when he was reading not to disturb him"
reads as follows in the published statement: "When Abe
was reading, my husband took particular care not to
disturb him," 107 the rest of the sentence being word for
word as Herndon quoted it in his biography. In addition,
in the complete published statement, Mrs. Lincoln said
this, which, so far as I can discover, Herndon never
quoted: "As a usual thing Mr. Lincoln never made Abe
quit reading to do anything if he could avoid it. He would
do it himself first. Mr. Lincoln could read a little and
could scarcely write his name; hence he wanted, as he
himself felt the uses and necessities of educating, his boy
Abraham to learn, and he encouraged him to do it in all
ways he could." 108 This testimony, which for some reason
Mr. Herndon did not give us, is supported by a statement
made by Abraham Lincoln and reported by Leonard
Swett, a close friend of the Illinois bar. Swett wrote an
account of a long conversation which he had with Lincoln
in 1853, while traveling the circuit, in which Lincoln
talked about his boyhood. According to Swett, Lincoln
made this statement: "My father had suffered greatly for
the want of an education, and he determined at an early
day that I should be well educated. And what do you
think his ideas of a good education were? We had an
old dog-eared arithmetic in our house, and father deter-
mined that somehow, or somehow else, I should cipher
clear through that book." 109 Beveridge adds still more
testimony. He quotes a statement made by Wesley Hall,
a boyhood friend of Abraham Lincoln's in Indiana, in
which Hall tells of spending the night in the Lincoln
cabin. Hall relates how Abraham, at his father's request,
read to them from a i(Life of Franklin" until bedtime.

74 Legends That Libel Lincoln

"Old Tom couldn't read himself, but he wuz proud that
Abe could, and many a time he'd brag about how smart
Abe wuz to the folks round about," said Hall. Beveridge
expresses himself as believing that, while Hall's story was
"strongly colored . . . there can be no reasonable doubt
that something of the sort happened . . ." 110 Beveridge
also writes that "we must dismiss the unhappy legend that
Thomas Lincoln interfered with Abraham's incessant
reading." ni

This is only testimony, I grant. It comes, however,
from several different sources and is all to the same effect
— that Thomas Lincoln was not a barrier in Abraham's
road to learning. It is stronger testimony than any I have
found to the contrary. We have been told that Thomas
would often make Abraham stop reading when he was
supposed to be working in the fields. Doubtless there was
need for this, for there are numerous stories telling how
he would take a book with him, and stop his plowing or
other work to read to himself and to others working
near by. We are told, too, of a scornful remark Thomas
Lincoln is said to have made at a later date, in Illinois,
regarding Abraham's "foolin' hisself with eddication" and
boasting of his own lack of it.112 One William Green
seems to be the scource of this remark, William Green
whom Herndon characterized as a "blow — an exaggerator"
and said was known as "Slippery Bill." 113 Perhaps
Thomas spoke as Green said. Many people are inclined
to speak scornfully of things or advantages which have
been denied them, and Thomas may have expressed a
scorn of his son's education while secretly envying and
respecting him. More than one person has testified that,
in his later years, Thomas was proud of his son's achieve-

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 75

ments. Like many others of his time and even of today,
Thomas Lincoln may have had a very narrow idea of
what constituted an education, as is indicated by the
remark Abraham Lincoln made to Leonard Swett. Today
there are many who see no value in liberal arts educa-
tion, and who believe that all schooling, particularly from
high school on, should be directly vocational. So Thomas
Lincoln may have felt that a mere ability to read and
write and do a certain amount of ciphering was all the
education a man needed. Apparently he was entirely
willing to give such an education to his daughter and to
his son, and to pay for it, for he sent them to school,
when schools were available, both in Kentucky and in
Indiana. How much he paid is not known, but the schools
in those days were subscription schools and, while the
fee might seem very small to us today, it probably was
large enough to keep some children away.

This discussion of Thomas Lincoln's attitude toward
his son's education leads to a consideration of the rela-
tions between the father and son as a whole. Beveridge
says that "there was little sympathy or understanding"
and remarks: "The mystery of the father's attitude towards
Abraham is deepened by the unanimous and positive testi-
mony to the placid character of Thomas Lincoln." 114
This relationship has been much discussed. Many biog-
raphers of Abraham Lincoln, probably the majority, are
in agreement with Beveridge. Nevertheless, I do not be-
lieve there is sufficiently conclusive testimony upon which
to base a positive opinion, and there is no real evidence
that I have found. The opinion of Beveridge and others
seems to rest largely on reports of whippings which
Thomas is said to have given his son. I think I am correct

76 Legends That Libel Lincoln

when I say that the accounts of these come from one man,
Dennis Hanks. At least he is the only one whom I have
found quoted, although there is a statement, often quoted,
from A. H. Chapman, Hanks's son-in-law, in which he
said that "Thos. Lincoln never showed by his actions that
he thought much of his son Abraham when a boy. He
treated him rather unkindly than otherwise, always ap-
peared to think more of his stepson, John D. Johnston
than he did of his own son Abraham. But after Abe was
grown up and had made his mark in the world the old
man appeared to be very proud of him." 115 Chapman
could have had no firsthand knowledge of Thomas Lin-
coln's attitude toward Abraham as a boy, for his father-
in-law was not married until 1821, and, by the time he
had a daughter of marriageable age, Abraham had lonj
since left his father's home. Accordingly, Dennis Hanks
seems to be the only authority for the stories of blows
and whippings. He was in a position to know, but even
when one overlooks his tendency to exaggerate, and
accepts his statements at their full face value, I do not
find that Dennis Hanks makes Thomas Lincoln out to be
a rough, brutal father. Nor do his accounts lead one to
believe that the boy Abraham was punished more severely
or more frequently than many another boy has been.
The old adage of "spare the rod and spoil the child" was
in effect in Abraham's boyhood, as it was for many years
afterward. Also there was the adage that "children should
be seen and not heard." Disobedience of this latter rule
of conduct was the cause of some of the blows which
Dennis Hanks said that Abraham received. He related
how strangers would sometimes stop at the Lincoln farm.
If young Abraham happened to be with his father "he

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 77

would be sure to ask the stranger the first question,"
according to Hanks, who says that "Abe was then a rude
and forward boy." On such occasions, in Hank's pic-
turesque words, "his father would sometimes knock him
a rod." 116 Hanks believed that Abraham's desire to tease
his father often caused him to be the first to greet a
stranger.

Although I find no convincing evidence or conclusive
testimony to the effect that Thomas Lincoln was harsh
and rough in his treatment of his son, there is much testi-
mony , as Beveridge says, that he was a placid man;
"a remarkable peaceable, good-natured" man, a "good
humored, sociable man . . . loving everybody and every-
thing," to use the characterizations of those who knew
him.117 Dennis Hanks told of occasional whippings. He
also declared that "the Old Man Loved His Children." 118
The mystery of which Beveridge speaks is a mystery only
if we try to believe that Thomas Lincoln possessed con-
flicting qualities and was both a harsh, rather brutal man
and a "remarkable peaceable, good-natured man." The
preponderance of testimony is that he was the latter.
Nathaniel W. Stephenson is critical of Thomas because
he used his son "as a servant or hired him out to
others." 119 Jesse W. Weik, however, says that it is errone-
ous to believe "that he spent a large proportion of his
time as a hired hand working for others." 12° Many writers
tell with indignation or sarcasm how Thomas Lincoln
made his son turn over to him all his earnings until he
reached the age of twenty-one. If he did this — and prob-
ably he did — he was merely following a general custom
of the time which, moreover, was supported by the com-
mon law of that day and even of today.

78 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln never gave any concrete basis for
the belief that his relations with his father were strained.
On the other hand, he did not give any reason to believe
that there was close sympathy and understanding between
them. He rarely talked about his family or his early
days. This has led some to believe that he refrained from
doing so because of unhappy memories. There is good
reason to believe that this was not the case; while he was
not given to discussing his personal affairs, he frequently
regaled his friends with anecdotes of his boyhood days,
which he told with great gusto and good humor. He rarely
talked about his childhood in Kentucky, and this has led
many to conclude that he wished to forget those days of
alleged "sordid misery." But he was only seven years old
when he left Kentucky, and one's adult memories of the
first seven years are seldom vivid. Rarely are they as clear
as one's recollections of later years. Some writers claim
that Lincoln's boyhood years in Indiana were poverty-
stricken years of hardship and unhappiness, with a shift-
less, hard-taskmaster father. One writer even goes so far
as to say: "For years, there in Indiana, Abraham Lincoln
endured more terrible poverty than did thousands of the
slaves whom he would one day liberate." 121 Others have
written in a similar but less extreme vein. If these writers
were correct, one would hardly expect Lincoln to have
recalled his Indiana days with anything but loathing.
Nevertheless, there is abundant testimony that he remem-
bered them with genuine pleasure. Many testify to the
stories he often told, in his adult years, of his boyhood
days in Indiana, stories which he told with genuine enjoy-
ment. Jesse W. Weik writes: "The years of his residence
in Indiana Lincoln never failed to recall save with the

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 79

deepest satisfaction. . . . When he neared the fame of
later years he invariably located his best stories in
the Hoosier State, and whenever he was heard to say,
'That reminds me of an incident which happened when
I lived in Indiana,' his listeners would move their chairs
closer together anxiously awaiting an interesting recital,
bristling with wit and the expected 'nib,' or moral, which
was so poignant it pierced the skin, or otherwise so
effective it stung like the cracker of a whiplash." 122
Undoubtedly he had many happy memories of those days.
In summarizing the talk about Lincoln's early life which
he had with him on one occasion, Leonard Swett wrote:
"Mr. Lincoln told this story as the story of a happy child-
hood. There was nothing sad nor pinched, and nothing of
want, and no allusions to want, in any part of it. His own
description of his youth was that of a joyous, happy boy-
hood. It was told with mirth and glee, and illustrated by
pointed anecdote, often interrupted by his jocund laugh
which echoed over the prairies. His biographers have given
to his early life the spirit of suffering and want, and as one
reads them, he feels like tossing him pennies for his relief.
Mr. Lincoln gave no such description. . . ." 123 In 1844,
Lincoln was in Indiana and visited his boyhood home. The
visit brought back some tender memories which he put
into verse. He wrote of those memories in these words:
"That part of the country is, within itself, as unpoetical as
any spot of the earth; but still, seeing it and its objects and
inhabitants aroused feelings in me which were certainly
poetry; though whether my expression of those feelings
is poetry is quite another question." 124 Such feelings
would not have been aroused if he had had an unhappy

80 Legends That Libel Lincoln

boyhood and retained only unpleasant memories of those
days.

Whether the relations between Thomas Lincoln and
his son were strained and remained so throughout Lin-
coln's life is a matter that has been debated for many
years. Many have guessed; no one knows. Letters which
Abraham wrote have been used as evidence on both sides
of this question. One letter, in particular, which he wrote
to his father, has been much quoted as illustrating Thomas
Lincoln's improvidence and his son's impatience with this.
The letter reads as follows:

Washington, December 24, 1848.
My dear Father:

Your letter of the 7th was received night before last. I very
cheerfully send you the twenty dollars, which sum you say is
necessary to save your land from sale. It is singular that you
should have forgotten a judgment against you; and it is more
singular that the plaintiff should have let you forget it so
long; particularly as I suppose you always had property
enough to satisfy a judgment of that amount. Before you
pay it, it would be well to be sure that you have not paid,
or at least that you cannot prove that you have paid it.

Give my love to mother and all your connections. Affec-
tionately your son,

A. Lincoln125

This letter, taken by itself, has caused some writers
to conclude that Abraham Lincoln was questioning his
father's veracity, even though he sent the money that had
been requested. But this letter cannot be considered by
itself. It must be studied in connection with another
which Abraham Lincoln wrote on the same day to his
stepbrother, John D. Johnston. In some strange way this
latter letter became entirely separated from the above

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 81

letter to Thomas Lincoln, although it was written on the
same piece of paper. Early writers, for some unknown
reason, assigned to this second letter the date of January
2, 1851, and this incorrect date has been used by biog-
raphers and by compilers of letters and other writings of
Lincoln even after the correct date and facts about it were
disclosed many years ago. This letter to John D. Johnston
is well known, and it is not necessary to give it here. It
is the one which begins "Your request for eighty dollars
I do not think it best to comply with now," and goes on
to tell Johnston that Abraham Lincoln will help him, if
he will only go to work and earn some money, by
matching dollar for dollar what he earns.126

In considering these two letters, to Thomas Lincoln
and John D. Johnston, it must be remembered that both
Thomas Lincoln's letter asking for twenty dollars and
Johnston's letter requesting eighty dollars were written
by Johnston. The idea that Johnston may have been the
moving spirit behind both requests for money is expressed
by Dr. William E. Barton, who in his book The Paternity
of Abraham Lincoln makes an interesting analysis of the
•two replies made by Lincoln.127 Dr. Barton wonders
whether Lincoln was not really writing both letters to
Johnston, which may have been one reason why he wrote
both of them on the same piece of paper. If Johnston was
really responsible for Thomas Lincoln's request for money,
Dr. Barton believes that Abraham Lincoln was trying to
make it clear to him that he was not entirely convinced
by the reason given for this request, although he was quite
willing to send the money to his father. This is an
interesting thought. Whether Dr. Barton is correct in his
inference or not, the close connection between these two

82 Legends That Libel Lincoln

letters to Thomas Lincoln and John D. Johnston throws
an interesting light on the much-discussed letter which
Abraham Lincoln wrote to his father.

Another letter of Abraham Lincoln's has frequently
been quoted as an indication of strained relations be-
tween him and his father. This is one which Abraham
wrote to his stepbrother on January 12, 1851, a short time
before his father's death. This letter, and the fact that
Lincoln did not visit his father in his last illness and did
not attend his funeral, have convinced some students that
there was a lack of sympathy between them. In this letter
Lincoln wrote that he could not leave Springfield at that
time, both because his business prevented this and because
his wife was ill. The distance was considerable and travel
was slow and difficult, although he made no mention of
this. He sent a tender message to his father. "Say to him,"
he wrote in part, "that if we could meet now it is doubtful
whether it would not be more painful than pleasant, but
that if it be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyous
meeting with many loved ones gone before, and where
the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long
to join them." 128 Just what Lincoln meant by the meeting
being "more painful than pleasant" is not known, but this
phrase has been much discussed and debated. Those who
believe that the relations between father and son were
strained assert that Abraham clearly indicated this when
he wrote that sentence. I cannot agree. Abraham Lincoln
never cherished resentment or grudges. He admonished
young men to avoid quarrels and to forget their differ-
ences with others. His life presents many instances of his
overlooking affronts, even insults, of his forbearance and
his quality of forgiveness. Of him Emerson wrote: "His

Thomas Lincoln — Average Pioneer 83

heart was as great as the world, but there was no room
in it to hold the memory of a wrong." 129 To say that he
would send a message to his dying father that would recall
old sores is entirely foreign and contradictory to his char-
acter. Just what Lincoln meant by that sentence no one
knows but the one who wrote it. I believe that he was
merely stating a simple truth — that parting from loved
ones is painful.

The relations between Thomas and Abraham Lin-
coln, particularly in those years after Abraham left his
home, have been the subject of much discussion and de-
bate. This is rather futile, for no one has any real knowl-
edge of what those relations were. It would be remark-
able, I think, if men of such different mental attainments
did not grow apart, to some extent at least. Aside from
the ties of blood, they had little in common. Nevertheless,
such men can have a deep sense of loyalty and a very
real affection even though they do not entirely under-
stand each other. When Abraham Lincoln, on January 12,
1851, wrote to his stepbrother: "You already know I desire
that neither father nor mother shall be in want of
any comfort, either in health or sickness, while they
live . . ." 13° I believe he was expressing more than mere
filial duty. He did not neglect his parents after he left
home. He gave them financial assistance, from time to
time, in the period of his own financial struggle. "Here,"
in Herndon's words, "is exhibited parental love and duty,
backed up by warm affection, care, good credit, land,
home and money. ... It was not all gush, sympathy and
tears on paper; it was real, solid, genuine comfort and
support, such as we can live upon." 131 There has been
much discussion, much speculation, about the relations

84 Legends That Libel Lincoln

between the father and son. No one knows what they
were. We do know, however, that Abraham Lincoln
named his youngest son in memory of his father —
Thomas Lincoln.

IV

The Legend of Ann Rutledge

Many men and women have had romances in their
youth which have ended sadly or tragically, and many
have found true happiness in a later romance and
marriage. This does not mean that those young men and
women were not serious in their early romance. It simply
means that men and women are capable of truly loving
more than one of the opposite sex who may come into
their lives at different times. Human nature seeks happi-
ness through companionship. In many cases the search is a
short one. In others more searching is necessary before the
true companion is found, and many are the boys and girls
who are in and out of love several times before their
search is ended.

Abraham Lincoln appears to have been one of those
who found it necessary to do more searching. Assuming
that he was in love with Ann Rutledge, he was also in
love with Mary Owens a short time after Ann's death,
and, still later, was in love with Mary Todd. In so falling
in and out of love he was doing nothing unusual. On the
contrary, he was merely evidencing the fact that he was
human, far more human and understandable than if he
had remained completely true and faithful to his reported
first love, Ann Rutledge, throughout the remaining years

85

86 Legends That Libel Lincoln

of his life, and had put companionship, love and marriage
forever out of his mind and heart.

It is not with the reported romance of Abraham and
Ann that I quarrel. It is with the elaborations that have
been woven in and around this story, the claim that Ann
was Lincoln's one and only true love, the memory of
which affected and influenced him throughout all the years
of his life. It is with the idea that so deep was his love for
Ann that he did not, and could not, love another woman.
It is because these claims and beliefs are not true to human
nature, because they are not in keeping with the character
of Abraham Lincoln and, in some respects, actually libel
his character, and because they have done so great a wrong
to the woman whom Lincoln loved and married that I
quarrel with the legend of Ann Rutledge as it is generally
told and believed.

There is no need to retell this story of Abraham and
Ann. It is familiar to everyone, and has been told with
many elaborations and variations by biographers, novelists,
poets, and dramatists. It is a story that permits the imagi-
nation of the narrator to run wild, just as did that of
William H. Herndon on November 16, 1866, when he
delivered his lecture entitled "Ann Rutledge, New Salem,
Pioneering and the Poem" and first made the world really
conscious of this story. His account of this love affair in
that lecture, and especially his picture and description of
Abraham's insane wanderings after Ann's death, in which
he even goes so far as to give words to fancied thoughts
of Abraham, show what a vivid, sentimental imagination
can do with very little material. For it appears that when
Mr. Herndon delivered that lecture he had little knowl-
edge of this episode, and that much of what he had was

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 87

gained but a short time before from one man, John
McNamar. Such keen students as William E. Barton and
Paul M. Angle express the opinion that from his interview
with McNamar, a few days before his lecture, Herndon
gained his first real information regarding this affair.

Herndon, however, had heard reports of this romance
before he interviewed McNamar, for John Hill mentioned
it briefly in a letter which he wrote to Herndon on June
6, 1865.1 From an article in The Abraham Lincoln
Quarterly for September, 1944, we learn that this same
John Hill was the editor of a small newspaper, the Menard
Axis, published in Petersburg, Illinois, and that he printed
an account of this romance in that paper in 1862. Some
who discuss this recently discovered newspaper story think
it gives definite proof of the Lincoln-Rutledge romance
principally because it was not denied either by Lincoln or
by his friends at that time. Whether the president, carry-
ing the staggering burdens of the war in the dark days
of 1862, ever heard of this newspaper story is, I think,
very doubtful. If he did he would have kept silent. That
was his nature, particularly in the case of a story coming
from one who was opposed to him politically, as we are
told John Hill was, and in the case of a story obviously
written by one unfriendly to him, if we can judge by the
adjectives used in characterizing him, such as "this awk-
ward youth . . . this keeper of a stallion . . . this bank-
rupt liquor merchant — this day laborer, infidel writer
. . . hog drover . . ."

As for Lincoln's friends, they were not in a position
to deny this story granting that they saw it in the obscure
newspaper. For Lincoln, as many who knew him have told
us, never discussed his personal affairs with others. After

88 Legends That Libel Lincoln

all, there was little in the story, as told by John Hill in
1862, that called for denial. It was merely an account of
a youthful romance which ended tragically and had none
of the absurdities with which Mr. Herndon embroidered
his tale and which later called forth vigorous denials. In
preparing his lecture Herndon undoubtedly relied far
more upon information gained from McNamar than upon
John Hill, for McNamar was an actor in the little drama
whereas John Hill, we learn, was not born until a year
after Ann's death.2 The story Hill published in 1862 was
merely a secondhand story of an incident almost thirty
years old. It was merely another reminiscence passed down
from one person to another.

After his lecture Herndon worked diligently to find
evidence that would support the story given in his lecture.
He found none, nor has any evidence or contemporary
testimony ever been uncovered. All the testimony that
Herndon collected came from people who were trying to
recall an incident of thirty or more years before. Quite
naturally much of it came from members of Ann's family
to whom Herndon wrote letters. In many cases it came
from people whose memories were stimulated, to a greater
or less extent, by the questions Herndon asked them and
by copies of his lecture which he sent to them. Some of
those from whom Herndon sought corroborating testi-
mony gave it to him. Others denied the story in one way
or another. "Uncle Jimmie" Short, who lived close to the
farm on which the Rutledge family lived, and at whose
house Abraham is said to have courted Ann, denied any
knowledge of a romance or an engagement.3 A sister-in-
law of Ann's expressed the opinion that Ann cared for
McNamar more than for Abraham, and would have mar-

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 89

ried him upon his return to New Salem had she lived.4
Mrs. Bowling Green, at whose house, we are told, Abra-
ham was cared for during several weeks of his alleged in-
sanity, was of the opinion that Ann thought as much of
McNamar as she did of Lincoln.5 Joshua Speed, whose
room and bed Lincoln shared for several years in Spring-
field, and who was probably Lincoln's most intimate
friend, received a copy of the lecture from Herndon. The
story, he said, was all new to him.6 In his biography, Hern-
don tells us that he knew Ann Rutledge, her father, and
other members of her family. He had a cousin who lived
in New Salem at the time of this episode. He does not,
however, make a single statement that indicates he had
any knowledge of this tragedy to his friends gained from
his own contacts with them or learned through his cousin
at that time. If he had had any such knowledge, it is very
probable that at some time he would have mentioned it
to Speed while Speed, Lincoln and Herndon were all
living together in a room over Speed's store. Speed, how-
ever, knew nothing of it, and Herndon fails to give such
firsthand knowledge in his biography, or in his published
letters.

Herndon, as has been said, did not suggest that there
was any doubt in anyone's mind regarding this episode.
He gave it as a well-authenticated fact, and his lead has
been followed by so many writers that the story has be-
come firmly established, in spite of the doubt voiced by
more than one close student of Lincoln's life. The mere
fact that this story is told with so many variations in de-
tail by different writers should cause one to question it,
and to look upon it as a story rather than a proved fact.
About the only detail agreed upon is that Ann was en-

go Legends That Libel Lincoln

gaged to John McNarmar. He, we are told, left New
Salem for a visit to his family in New York, did not return
as expected, and after a time neglected to write to Ann,
who later fell in love with Abraham. Just when all this
occurred — when McNamar left New Salem and when
Abraham began to court Ann — is told in so many differ-
ent ways that one can only conclude that no one was cer-
tain as to just what took place. Some tell us that McNamar
left New Salem in 1834. Others give the date as 1833, and
still others, including Barton and Beveridge, believe that
he went away in the summer or fall of 1832.7 It is gen-
erally agreed that, some time after McNamar went east,
the Rutledge family moved to a farm which he owned
several miles from New Salem, but the exact time of this
move is as confused as is the date of McNamar's depart-
ure. Beveridge tells us that the Rutledge family moved
to the farm about the same time that McNamar left New
Salem, which would be in the summer or fall of 1832.8
Dr. Barton says that they did not move until early in
1834.9 Dr. Warren believed that the move was made early,
and expresses the belief that "Ann Rutledge did not live
in New Salem for more than one year during the five or
six years that Abraham Lincoln resided there." 10 The
same disagreement as to date is found regarding the time
that Lincoln went to board at the Rutledge tavern, with
some giving the date as 1833 and others as 1834. If the
Rutledge family had already moved to the farm in 1832,
it was not through the close contact of boarding at her
father's tavern that Lincoln fell in love with Ann. And if
she moved away at that early date, she had a long trip to
the post office in New Salem to inquire for letters from
her betrothed.

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 91

It is obvious that the memories of people were very
hazy as to the details of the episode. This may not belie
the incident in its entirety, but it does cast much doubt
upon it, and should cause us to be slow in our acceptance
of it as a proved occurrence, even if no other questions
were raised in our minds. We are told that before he left
New Salem, John McNamar, who for several years had
been living under the name of John McNeil, revealed his
true name to his fiancee, Ann, and told her that he had
assumed the name of McNeil in order to avoid being fol-
lowed by creditors of his father. He had, he said, made
enough money to pay his father's debts and was returning
home for this purpose, and was resuming his real name.
Ann, the story goes, did not tell her father of this until
some time later, when McNamar failed to return to New
Salem as he had promised. Her father then became con-
vinced that McNamar was untrustworthy, and that he had
changed his name because of something discreditable in
his past. He urged Ann to forget him and to marry Abra-
ham. We are told, too, that this story of McNamar's alias
spread throughout New Salem, that a strong feeling arose
against him, and that Ann was counseled by her friends to
put him forever out of her mind and heart. There are, how-
ever, records of deeds of land to McNamar, one dated in
1831 and another in 1832, both drawn up by Abraham
Lincoln, which clearly indicate that Ann's father and his
partner, Cameron, must have known McNamar's true
name at those early dates, for each of them signed one of
those deeds.11 It is interesting to note that if Ann's father
lost all confidence in McNamar, after learning his true
name, and thought that he had deserted Ann, he was quite

92 Legends That Libel Lincoln

willing to live on a farm owned by McNamar in spite of
his feeling of antagonism.

For two or three months in the winter of 1834-35,
Abraham Lincoln was away from New Salem, attending
the sessions of the state legislature in Vandalia. Not a
single letter written by him to Ann has ever been found.
Dr. Barton reports that the Rutledge family was given to
saving letters, but that they do not even have any family
tradition of such letters.12 We know that a year or two
later, under similar circumstances, Abraham Lincoln
wrote several letters to Mary Owens. If he ever wrote any
to Ann, or if she ever wrote any to him, during his ab-
sence, no one seems to have had any knowledge of that
fact. Still another thing causes me to wonder how serious
this affairs was. A great deal has been made by many
writers of a final visit which Abraham paid to Ann a few
days before her death and of his manifest grief as he came
away. Although Ann was ill for several weeks, we hear of
only one visit that Abraham paid to her. That he was dis-
tressed, even greatly so, after this visit is only what we
should expect of anyone leaving the deathbed of a friend,
particularly so tenderhearted a person as Lincoln. Such dis-
tress, however, does not prove or necessarily indicate deep
love. And one visit by a young man to his fiancee in her
last illness is, I think, rather slim proof of undying love.

Not long after Ann's death, John McNamar returned
to New Salem. The reports are that he and Lincoln re-
sumed the friendly relations they had had before he
went away. The shadow of Anna Rutledge does not ap-
pear to have come between them. No gossip of a romance
or even of an engagement between Abraham and Ann
reached McNamar. Later he said he had been told that

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 93

Abraham grieved for Ann, but no significance seems to
have been attached to this. If, as we have been told, there
was a widespread feeling of distrust and antagonism to-
ward McNamar on the part of New Salemites, because of
his apparent abandonment of Ann, one would naturally
think that someone would have made it a point to tell
the unpopular McNamar that Ann had thrown him over
for the very popular Lincoln. Apparently no one did.

When one reads the many versions of this story, when
one notes the confusion of dates and facts, it is quite clear
that no one had any certainty as to what occurred. The
only thing that is clear is that none of those who gave
their versions of the incident to Herndon or to others was
really sure about what he remembered. One can only con-
clude that this story is not a proved fact, but merely a
story which may or may not be true, a conclusion voiced
by more than one keen Lincoln student. Some writers who
believe that there was a romance make curious statements.
Thus, Ida M. Tarbell uses as proof that McNamar was
not deeply in love with Ann Rutledge the fact that he
married another young woman within a year after Ann's
death.13 Exactly the same argument might be used to
prove that Abraham Lincoln was not deeply in love with
Ann, for in slightly over a year after her death he was
asking Mary Owens to marry him. William E. Barton,
who believes that Abraham and Ann were in love, al-
though he is not certain whether or not there was an
engagement, seeks to prove that Ann had lost her love for
McNamar. He writes: "For thirty years after her death
no man is known to have alleged that any shadow of her
former regard for McNamar came between them [Abra-
ham and Ann]." 14 Almost the same words might be used

94 Legends That Libel Lincoln

to prove that there was no romance between Abraham and
Ann, because for almost thirty years after her death no
man is known to have made any statement about it.

It is all quite bewildering to one who wishes to be
certain. No one is certain, no matter how positively he
may write or speak of this episode. It may have happened;
it may never have happened. There may have been an
engagement or there may have been a romance without
an actual engagement. Probably no one will ever know.
Dr. Barton expresses the belief that Abraham and Ann
"cared for each other," but "that they were ever formally
engaged we do not know." 15 Beveridge, who characterizes
the whole affair as "misty," is of this opinion: "No posi-
tive and definite engagement resulted, although it seems
that there was a tentative agreement to marry 'condi-
tional,' however ... 'to an honorable release from the
contract with McNamar.' . . . Neither Ann nor Abraham,
it would seem, displayed any precipitancy of passion." 16
The best summary of this reported romance is, I think,
given by Paul M. Angle, who writes: "Of reliable evidence
touching upon the romance itself there is not the slightest
particle. No contemporary record containing even a hint
has ever been discovered. . . . Certainly Ann Rutledge
and Lincoln knew each other; probably they formed a
mutual attachment; possibly they were in love. But until
reliable contemporary evidence is discovered, there will
always be room for scepticism." 17 As an appendix to
Volume II of his fine study of Lincoln the President, Dr.
J. G. Randall gives a keen analysis of this affair. For the
first time the Herndon papers dealing with the Lincoln-
Rutledge romance have been subjected to the critical and
penetrating examination of a thorough historian who

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 95

clearly shows the obscure origins of this story and presents
the conflicting and contradictory statements about it
which came from the memories of many different people.

When one comes to consider the aftereffect of Ann's
death upon Lincoln, as reported by Herndon and those
who follow his lead, one finds the same confusion, the
same variations that are encountered when reading about
the romance. In this case, however, one finds some actual
contemporary testimony and evidence that Lincoln was
not so seriously affected as many claim. We have been told
that Lincoln was driven insane by his grief, that his
friends feared he would commit suicide and watched him
night and day, finally taking him to the home of Bowling
Green, where he lived for several weeks until his reason
was restored. It is difficult to believe that Lincoln went
insane. Herndon, who first asks us to believe this, would
also have us believe that twice in his young manhood
Abraham Lincoln was actually insane. I cannot believe
that the man who guided the destinies of this country
through four years of civil war, who was able to withstand
the strain of those terrible years, years of constant anxiety,
of the most savage abuse, years in which he was under a
continual threat of a violent death, years of heartbreaking
responsibilities, throughout which he grew more calm,
more gentle, more serene, I cannot believe that this man
had twice, or even once, before in his earlier life been
actually insane.

We are told that before the death of Ann Rutledge,
Lincoln was a gay, happy young man full of laughter, but
that from that time on his entire nature was changed and
he became a brooding man of sorrows, given to spells of
deep melancholy. Lincoln's spells of brooding are ascribed

96 Legends That Libel Lincoln

to many causes. When writing about his romance with
Ann Rutledge, her death is given as the cause. When tell-
ing of his married life, these spells are traced to his alleged
domestic unhappiness. In several letters Herndon says that
the principal cause of these spells was Lincoln's "physical
organization." He also gives heredity as a cause. Dr. Wil-
liams E. Barton writes: "Lincoln, in common with other
members of the Lincoln family, had periods of profound
depression . . ." 18 These reported spells of deep melan-
choly form an interesting study in themselves, and much
has been written about them. I have often wondered
whether they may not have been somewhat misrepre-
sented, and whether Lincoln was not often buried in deep
thought rather than in gloom. There is some reason to
believe that this was the case, and there seems to be good
reason to believe that grief for Ann Rutledge was not the
principal, and probably not even a minor, cause of these
spells.

Abraham Lincoln may have grieved sincerely for Ann
Rutledge as a friend, and perhaps as a sweetheart, and his
grief may have lasted for some time. No one really knows.
We are quite certain, however, that he was not incapaci-
tated for work for any considerable length of time, if at
all. If, as has been said, he was taken to the home of
Bowling Green after some weeks of insanity, and remained
in that home for several more weeks until his reason was
restored, it would have been October before he left the
Green home and resumed his activities. For Ann died on
August 25, 1835. We learn, however, from a letter dated
September 22, 1835, that he was then attending to his
duties as postmaster. This letter has been quoted in more
than one discussion of this incident, and there is no need

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 97

to give it here. The writer mentions Lincoln, "a particular
friend," and tells of his rather careless habits of running
his little post office. He makes no mention, however, that
those habits were due to any mental disturbance or emo-
tional upset. He said that he would ask the postmaster to
"frank" his letter, and this his "particular friend" did.
Clearly Lincoln was running his post office at that time. A
second bit of evidence that Lincoln was not unfit for
business is presented by a copy of a land survey which he
made in September, 1835. A few months later Lincoln
was attending the sessions of the Illinois legislature, and
performing his duties in such a way as to arouse no com-
ment, that is known, regarding his mental or emotional
condition. As William E. Barton writes: "Ann Rutledge
died, and we have no reason to doubt that Lincoln's sor-
row was sincere, but he was speedily in love again, and
again, and still again. No man in New Salem suspected
that he loved Ann Rutledge with an incurable affection.
. . . And not a single soul in New Salem or Vandalia made
any record then or for decades afterwards that Abraham
Lincoln had gone crazy over the death of Ann Rut-
ledge." 19

About a year after Ann's death, we find Abraham
Lincoln doing a strange thing for one whose heart was
forever buried, but not an uncommon thing for a normal
human being. He was asking another young woman to
marry him. This we know from letters which he wrote to
Mary Owens, and from a long and rather boyish account
of it which he wrote to Mrs. O. H. Browning in 1838. He
had first met Mary Owens when she visited New Salem in
1833. Indeed, there is one report that he had then said
that "if ever that girl comes back to New Salem I am go-

98 Legends That Libel Lincoln

ing to marry her." 20 This is an interesting bit of gossip,
when we recall that many tell us that at the time he was
deeply in love with Ann Rutledge, although he may not
then have declared his love. It is only gossip, to be sure,
but that is all we have to rely upon regarding this entire
Ann Rutledge legend. If Lincoln was so crushed by the
death of Ann Rutledge that he could never love again, he
was very untrue in his proposals to Mary Owens, or else
he was willing to try to induce her to enter into a loveless
marriage. I much prefer to believe that he was merely a
normal young man doing what many another man has
done in seeking companionship and marital happiness. It
was not necessary for him to put Ann Rutledge forever
out of his mind in order to love another. One can cherish
a beautiful memory without being prevented from seeking
and gaining happiness through another beautiful experi-
ence. Abraham did not need to be untrue to the memory
of Ann in order to love Mary Owens and, later, Mary
Todd. Even if he had loved Ann as dearly as has been
claimed, he was merely putting that love into a niche in
his memory. He was only being human by continuing his
search for companionship. But he could not have been
true either to himself or to others if the memory of Ann
forever dominated his thoughts, as the legend would have
us believe.

The contention that after Ann's death Lincoln never
loved again, that her memory was the dearest treasure of
his mind and heart and influenced him throughout his
life, is based upon nothing but one man's guess and senti-
mentality. In this connection Paul M. Angle writes: "The
enduring effect is, of course, pure inference. Mr. Herndon
believed that Ann's death was largely responsible for Lin-

The Legend of Ann Rutledge 99

coin's recurrent melancholy, and he also believed — at least
in 1866, when he delivered his famous lecture — that Ann
was the only woman Lincoln ever loved. Neither belief
has probability for a support. Indeed, competent medical
opinion holds that it is next to impossible, psychologically,
for an emotional attachment to endure for anything like
the lifetime of a man unless it be stimulated by frequent
personal contact. Herndon was certainty 'guessing' when
he traced Ann's influence through Lincoln's life." 21 That
statement regarding competent medical opinion should
not be overlooked.

Herndon was so carried away by his theory that Ann
Rutledge was the only woman Lincoln ever loved that he
was led to make some discreditable charges against his.
hero, without apparently realizing what he was doing. He
claimed that Lincoln did not love Mary Todd when he
asked her to marry him, and that he told her this was the
case. How Herndon knew this he does not say. He did not
know it. He was merely guessing again, because he had
to support the myth that he had created. But the echo of
these words has come down through the years, and Mary
Todd Lincoln stands in the minds of many people as the
unloved wife of Abraham Lincoln. These words also carry
the message that Abraham Lincoln was so lacking in honor
that he would take the solemn marriage vow knowing that
he was perjuring himself. Thus to dishonor the memory
of Lincoln by trying to maintain a theory is what Hern-
don really did when he gave this legend to the world.

The story of a boy's love for a girl can be made a
touching and beautiful episode of his life. Herndon, him-
self, used the word "episode" when speaking of this ro-
mance, calling it, on one occasion, "one of Lincoln's best

ioo Legends That Libel Lincoln

episodes." 22 Let us cherish it, if we wish, as an episode, an
incident, rather than distort it out of all proportion by
asserting that it was a major influence in Lincoln's life.
There is testimony that this episode was real; there is
equally strong testimony to the contrary. We can weigh
the testimony and make our choice: accept the romance
part of the legend or reject it without injury to anyone.
There is, however, no testimony to support that part of
the legend which tells us that Lincoln loved Ann, and
only Ann, for all the years of his life. That is purely one
man's guess, and it is belied by the evidence of Lincoln's
proposals to Mary Owens and Mary Todd. This portion
of the legend cannot be believed unless one is willing to
believe that Lincoln was false to two young women, and
was openly false when he swore to love, honor and to
cherish Mary Todd. This portion of the legend should be
forever forgotten. It libels the man whose memory we
honor and revere. It greatly injures a devoted and loyal
wife of whom he was very proud and to whom he was com-
pletely true.

Mary Todd Lincoln, Helpmate—
Her Springfield Years

Few wives of our great men have been given so much
attention in the biographies of their husbands as has Mary
Todd Lincoln. For the most part biographers of public
men pay little attention to their private lives. Enough
facts of ancestry and parentage, of boyhood and education,
may be given to create a background for the story of adult
years and achievements. The facts of marriage and chil-
dren may be mentioned, but seldom do we read, in such
biographies, of intimate details of private life, of youthful
love affairs, of marriage proposals and rejections, lovers'
quarrels, broken engagements, family spats, or other sub-
jects more properly belonging to the gossip columns than
to serious biography. Almost never do we find character-
istics of the wife, especially her shortcomings, detailed and
catalogued.

How otherwise it is in the case of Abraham Lincoln.
His life has been studied in more minute detail, I venture
to say, than is the case with any other great American. No
secret of his private life seems to have escaped the prob-
ing eyes of the researchers. Pages, even entire chapters,
have been devoted by some of his biographers to discus-
sions of his wife and his marriage relations. In comment-
ing on this Joseph Fort Newton says: "Of course, the whole

101

102 Legends That Libel Lincoln

topic should have been veiled in that privacy which ought
always to be accorded to such relations; but Lincoln, like
Carlyle, was not shown such respect." 1 Until a few years
ago almost our only source of knowledge of Mary Todd
Lincoln came from biographies of her husband. Obviously
the writers of those biographies were primarily interested
in Abraham Lincoln, and only incidentally in his wife.
They were seeking to give a complete history and picture
of him, not of her. She was merely a more or less minor
character in the drama of his life, and often minor char-
acters are not well rounded out in drama, fiction, or his-
tory. It was, indeed, the treatment of Mrs. Lincoln, as a
minor character in the biographies of her husband, that
first aroused my interest in her, for I could not be con-
vinced that Abraham Lincoln would have married a wo-
man who had as few redeeming qualities as are ascribed
to her by his biographers. One writer actually declares
that "she had almost no likeable personal qualities" and
exhausts his stock of adjectives by calling her a "mean,
common, envious, affected, mannerless virago." 2 Nor is
this an isolated example of the manner in which she has
been described by those who write about her husband, al-
though many do not assemble their adjectives as this writer
does. Few, however, tell us that Mary Todd Lincoln had
any of the gentle qualities we expect to find in almost
every woman. If she had any such characteristics, we do
not learn this from those who are primarily interested in
her husband's life. That, in itself, is sufficient to cause one
to believe that something is wrong. Many biographers of
Lincoln have overplayed their hand in their treatment of
his wife, for there are few women who have as few redeem-
ing qualities as they give to her. Of almost no one can it

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 103

truly be said that he or she has "almost no likeable quali-
ties."

Little attention was paid to Mary Todd Lincoln in
the early biographies of Abraham Lincoln. In the entire
ten volumes of Nicolay and Hay's Life one finds only three
references to Mary Todd and only six to Mrs. Lincoln.
With the publication of the Herndon biography, how-
ever, we find much attention given to her, and here seems
to have started the tradition of the ill-tempered shrew and
the legend of the unhappy marriage. Herndon describes
her as a "she-wolf and a wild-cat."3 He tells us that "Lin-
coln married Mary Todd to save his honor, and in doing
so he sacrificed his domestic peace. . . . He knew he did
not love her, but he had promised to marry her!" 4 He
states that "Lincoln told his wife that he did not love her"
and tells us that she knew he "did love another." 5 He
would have us believe that Mary Todd did not love Lin-
coln at the time of their marriage, and only married him
out of a spirit of revenge, and writes that "she led her
husband a wild and merry dance." 6 In his letters Herndon
uses many ugly adjectives to describe her. But in those
letters he makes some striking contradictions. On January
9, 1886, he wrote to Jesse W. Weik: "This woman was to
me a terror, haughty, poor when she married Lincoln,
imperious, proud, aristocratic, insolent, witty and bitter;
she was a gross [?] material woman as she appeared to
me.' 7 What a disagreeable woman he made her out to be!
Now let us see his opinion just one week later. On Janu-
ary 16, 1886, he wrote to Weik: "she was a highly cul-
tured woman, witty, dashing, pleasant, and a lady . . ." 8
What a contrast! One week she was haughty, insolent and

104 Legends That Libel Lincoln

gross; the next week she was highly cultured, pleasant,
and a lady. Which description are we to believe?

Unfortunately few of Herndon's compliments are to
be found in his biography, and few writers have had access
to his letters. The trail that he blazed in his biography has
been followed more or less blindly by other writers. Ward
H. Lamon describes Mary Todd as "High bred, proud,
brilliant, witty, and with a will that bent every one else
to her purpose, she took Mr. Lincoln captive at the very
moment she considered it expedient to do so." 9 He tells
us that Lincoln's "engagement to Miss Todd was one of
the great misfortunes of his life and hers." 10 He claims
that Lincoln talked about his unfortunate and unhappy
marriage "with little or no reserve to his wife's relatives,
as well as his own friends." n This is a surprising state-
ment, and Mr. Lamon fails to mention a single name of
those to whom Lincoln talked. So far as I have been able
to learn, no relative or friend has ever been quoted in
support of Mr. Lamon's statement. Herndon and others
declare that Lincoln never discussed such matters with
anyone. One biographer after another follows the Hern-
don and Lamon lead. In a chapter entitled "Years of
Discipline," Beveridge writes as follows regarding Lin-
coln's marriage: "Thus began his continuous and life-long
tutelage in humility, his instruction in patience, and the
practice of that supreme virtue, which was to continue
without ceasing year after year and decade after decade so
long as he lived. For his wife soon unchained that temper
which grew more savage through the years. . . ." 12 Dale
Carnegie, who follows tradition closely, would have us be-
lieve that "the great tragedy of Lincoln's life was not his
assassination, but his marriage." 13 Many similar quota-

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 105

tions might be given from other writers, but this is not
necessary in order to present the Mary Todd Lincoln of
tradition — the wife with the vicious temper, who was re-
sponsible for the tragically unhappy married life of Abra-
ham Lincoln.

All biographers of Lincoln, however, do not give us
this traditional picture. John G. Nicolay, Lincoln's private
secretary in the White House, writes: "His marriage to
Miss Todd ended all those mental perplexities and periods
of despondency from which he suffered more or less dur-
ing his several love affairs, extending over nearly a dec-
ade." 14 Lord Charnwood says: "The worst that we are
told with any certainty amounts to this, that like the very
happily married writer of 'Virginibus Puerisque,' Lincoln
discovered that marriage is a 'field of battle and not a bed
of roses' — a battle in which we are forced to suspect that
he did not play his full part. . . . There are no indications
of any approach to a serious quarrel. All that is told may
be perfectly true and not by any means have justified the
pity that some of Lincoln's friends were ready to feel for
him." 15 Nathaniel W. Stephenson has this to say: "Mrs.
Lincoln's character has been much discussed. Gossip,
though with very little to go on, has built up a tradition
that the marriage was unhappy. If one were to believe the
half of what has been put into print, one would have to
conclude that the whole business was a wretched mistake;
that Lincoln found married life intolerable because of the
fussily dictatorial self-importance of his wife. But the
authority for all these tales is meager. Not one is trace-
able to the parties themselves. Probably it will never be
known till the end of time what is false in them, what is
true. About all that can be disengaged from this cloud

io6 Legends That Libel Lincoln

of illusive witnesses is that Springfield wondered why
Mary Todd married Lincoln." 16

I am convinced that Stephenson speaks truly when he
says that gossip is largely responsible for the unpleasant
picture we have of Mary Todd Lincoln. There was an in-
credible amount of gossip about her in Washington, as we
shall see, cruel, ugly gossip, bred and fed by war hatreds.
There was much gossip in Springfield, and this was given
to Herndon when he was collecting material for his biog-
raphy. Some of it was many years old. Some of the state-
ments made to Herndon purported to give exact quota-
tions of remarks or comments made many years before,
but even so their accuracy does not seem to have been
questioned. An unfriendly narrator may unconsciously, if
indeed he does not do so intentionally, put a wrong em-
phasis or implication on a remark made by another. We
know that there were people in Springfield and in Wash-
ington who did not like Mrs. Lincoln. How many stories
about her came from such people? Carl Sandburg tells
how stories about her appeared in various forms, how, for
instance, a man supposed to have been abused by Mrs.
Lincoln appears in one telling as the uncle of a discharged
maid, in another as the iceman, in still others as the grocer
or the carpenter. 17 Two different settings are given to one
story that is sometimes related, both coming from the same
original source, a politician named Kreisman.

In one version, Kreisman claimed that, on the morn-
ing of Lincoln's departure from Springfield to assume the
office of president, Kreisman was sent to hunt for him
and learn why he was late in arriving at the railway sta-
tion. Kreisman went to the hotel at which Mr. and Mrs.
Lincoln had spent their last night in Springfield. On being

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 107

admitted to their room, Kreisman says that he found Mrs.
Lincoln on the floor in a fit of hysteria because her hus-
band would not promise to make a certain appointment
which she desired. Her action finally forced this appoint-
ment from him.18 Had Lincoln been late for his train on
this important occasion, some one of the many accounts
of that departure from Springfield would surely have men-
tioned it, but I have not found any statement of this na-
ture. The second version of this story also goes back to
Kreisman, but the time and the setting are entirely differ-
ent. This version was told to Herndon by Horace White
who, however, cautioned Herndon: "You must not use this
on my narration. Indeed, it would be best not to use it at
all." 19 The scene of White's version is the Lincoln home
in Springfield some time before the day of departure for
Washington. Kreisman was living in Europe when White
gave the story to Herndon, and no attempt seems to have
been made to verify it. Herndon, however, did not tell
this story in his biography, and, happily, one does not
often run across it. It is a story, I think, that is entirely
contradictory to Lincoln's character. His unfailing con-
sideration and devoted attention to his wife have been
described by many people. Never, in my opinion, would
he have subjected her to the humiliation of such exposure
as Kreisman is said to have described.

If all the tales about Mrs. Lincoln in Springfield had
found their way into the hands of a discriminating and
friendly biographer of her husband, a different picture of
her might have been given to the world. William H. Hern-
don, however, who originated the legend of the "she-wolf"
and "wild-cat" and of Lincoln's "domestic hell," was
neither discriminating nor friendly to her. His dislike of

108 Legends That Libel Lincoln

her is quite apparent in his letters, in spite of his protesta-
tions of sympathy for her and of his intention to do her
justice. Had he been her friend, had he felt kindly toward
her, he could not have used the many cruel adjectives
which he employed in describing her to others. The im-
pression of dislike which one forms when reading Hern-
don's letters grows as one reads. One finds, too, that Hern-
don admitted that Mrs. Lincoln disliked him. "She hates
me," he wrote on one occasion, "on the same grounds that
a thief hates a policeman who knows a dangerous secret
about him."20 His feeling is clearly expressed, again, in a
letter in which he commented on the Lincoln boys who,
as children, he cordially disliked: "I have felt a many a
time that I wanted to wring the necks of those brats and
pitch them out of the windows. . . ." Then he makes this
astounding statement: "I should like to know one thing
and that is: What caused the death of those children? I
have an opinion which I shall never state to anyone. I
know a good deal of the Lincoln family and too much of
Mrs. Lincoln." 21 It is difficult to believe that Herndon
had a kindly feeling for Mary Todd Lincoln. Dr. William
E. Barton has given his opinion that "William H. Hern-
don hated the widow of Abraham Lincoln and knew that
she held him in contempt." 22 Others tell of a mutual
dislike between Herndon and Mrs. Lincoln. Henry B.
Rankin, who served for a time as a clerk in the Lincoln
and Herndon law office, has stated that Herndon and Mrs.
Lincoln were much alike in their "impulsive antagonisms"
and that they were both of an unforgiving disposition.
"They began their acquaintance wrong," he tells us, "and
they maintained that attitude ever after so consistently
that neither could see the sterling qualities of the

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 109

other." 23 Dr. J. G. Randall tells us that Herndon both
disliked and feared Mrs. Lincoln. He tells of a definite
break that came between the two in 1874, due to Hern-
don's lecture on Lincoln's religion in which he quoted
Mrs. Lincoln in a way that brought forth vigorous denials
from her. Herndon made a rather lengthy reply to her in
a Springfield paper in which he referred to the "spas-
modic madness" of Mrs. Lincoln's denial. From that time,
Dr. Randall says, the relations between the two were those
of "open warfare." 24

Coupled with Herndon's antagonism, if not hatred,
for Mrs. Lincoln was his intense love for Abraham Lin-
coln. Lincoln was his hero, almost his idol. It is almost
impossible for a person to speak discriminatingly and
fairly of two people, one of whom he loves and the other
of whom he dislikes. Herndon's "emotional nature, easily
aroused to enthusiasm," did not equip him to be discrimi-
nating in weighing evidence, as Paul M. Angle has said.
He gathered his stories from everyone who might have
something to tell him. Whether some of those stories
came from some Lincoln idolators who tried to create a
false image of him as a flawless man, we do not know.
Some of the narrators may have tried to show that in
more ways than one Lincoln was a martyr. It seems evi-
dent that Herndon had some such motive. In a letter
dated November 26, 1866, written to Isaac N. Arnold, a
close friend of Lincoln's who apparently had written to
Herndon protesting about statements the latter had made
in h,is lectures, Herndon vigorously defended what he had
said. In his reply he makes many statements about Lin-
coln's unhappy married life. At one point he wrote: "My
dear sir, what makes Europe and America love Christ? It

no Legends That Libel Lincoln

is our sympathy that is at the root; and shall I strip Abra-
ham of his crown and cross? It is criminal to do so." 25
About the same time he wrote another letter, this one to
Charles H. Hart, in which he related with relish his reply
to Arnold. In this letter he wrote: "Timid men would rob
Mr. Lincoln of his crown and cross. . . ." 26 It seems quite
apparent that Herndon looked upon his hero as a domes-
tic martyr, as well as a political one, and that he intended
to give this idea to the world. That he succeeded in do-
ing so is evidenced by the strength today of the legend of
Lincoln's unhappy marriage, and the popular belief that
Mary Todd Lincoln was a wife whom he did not love.

The seventy-five years of research and study which
have corrected many early beliefs about Abraham Lin-
coln have also uncovered much new information about
Mary Todd Lincoln. It is only in recent years, however,
that a definite attempt has been made to present this
newer information, and much of it appears to be unknown
to many of those who write about her husband. Perhaps,
in time, the fruits of this effort will ripen, and she will be
understood and appreciated in a far better way than she
is today. For the picture of her that has been created not
only is unjust to her but it does not add to the stature of
Abraham Lincoln. One might have a more or less tolerant
sympathy for a man who led a "henpecked" life, but one
does not greatly respect or admire that man. Certainly one
does not honor and revere him as we do Lincoln. It would
be difficult to look up to a man, to make him a hero, if
he was so weak and lacking in force of character and
initiative that he had to be "nagged into greatness," as
some would have us believe was true of Lincoln. Nor was
Lincoln such a man. He was a man of intense ambition,

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 1 1 1

and a burning desire to better his position in life ani-
mated him from boyhood on. Herndon writes: "His ambi-
tion was never satisfied; in him it was a consuming fire
which smothered his [undeciphered] feelings." 27 Many
others write in a similar vein. In the field of politics his
ambition was first shown in 1832, when, as a young man of
only twenty-three and only seven months after he had ar-
rived, a total stranger, at New Salem, he asked the people
to elect him a member of the state legislature. At that
time, comments Beveridge, "The fires of political ambi-
tion had been lighted in Lincoln's breast, never to die
out." 8 Albert Shaw is correct when he says that many
stories of Lincoln's private life that have been given to us
do not harmonize with his public life.29

It is impossible for me to believe that Herndon was
correct when he said that "Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln never
lived a harmonious life."30 The evidence is, I think, as
Carl Sandburg has written: "As the years had passed, the
two who had so suddenly and independently married came
to understand that each was strong and each was weak." 31
I believe that, in spite of vast differences in background
and early training, in habits and, above all, in tempera-
ment, Abraham and Mary Lincoln made those mutual ad-
justments necessary to a life partnership, in which they
worked together for more than twenty-two years, sharing
joys and sorrows, disappointments and victories, leaning
and depending each upon the other.

The idea that Mrs. Lincoln "nagged her husband
into greatness" is expressed by writers in many different
ways. Robert E. Sherwood expresses it in his play, Abe
Lincoln in Illinois. In one scene Joshua Speed refuses to
carry a letter from Lincoln to Mary Todd in which Lin-

112 Legends That Libel Lincoln

coin seeks to break his engagement, and urges Lincoln to
tell her in person how he feels. Sherwood has Lincoln say:
"It would be a more cruel way. It would hurt her more
deeply. For I couldn't help blurting it all out — all the
terrible things I didn't say in that letter. I'd have to tell
her that I have hatred for her infernal ambition — that I
don't want to be ridden and driven, upward and onward
through life, with her whip lashing me and her spurs dig-
ging into me! If her poor soul craves importance in life,
then let her marry Stephen Douglas. He's ambitious, too
... I want only to to be left alone." 32 That is not the real
Abraham Lincoln speaking. The real Lincoln sought
political office after office, beginning years before he ever
met Mary Todd. He put all his heart and all his energy
into two campaigns for the United States Senate, and from
the moment he thought that he might have a chance for
the Presidency he planned and worked with all the zeal
and adroitness of a master politician for that office. Never-
theless, in a later scene in his play, Sherwood has Lincoln's
most intimate friend tell a political manager, on the night
of his election, that Lincoln did not want to be elected.33
Those who have helped to give us the belief that Mary
Todd Lincoln continually prodded her husband into
political activity would have us believe that, aside from
her driving ambition, her "lashing whip" and "digging
spurs," she had nothing to contribute to her husband's
life. It is interesting and illuminating to learn otherwise.
Mary Todd came of a family which, on both sides,
had distinguished itself by service to the country. Among
her ancestors and relatives she could claim a general in
command of Pennsylvania troops in the Revolutionary
War, officers who had served under George Rogers Clark,

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 113

a governor of Pennsylvania and of Michigan, and more
than one Cabinet member. Members of the Todd family
had been among the first settlers of Lexington, Kentucky,
and one had been the founder of Transylvania Seminary,
later Transylvania University.34 Her father, Robert S.
Todd, described as being "impetuous, high-strung and
nervous," was one of the most prominent men not only of
Lexington but of Kentucky as well. He had many business
interests; he served for many years as clerk of the House of
Representatives, and filled the position of president of the
Bank of Kentucky for some years prior to his death. He
was a leader of the Whig party in Kentucky and a close
personal friend of Henry Clay.

Mary's family was a large one. Her own mother died
when she was about seven years old, leaving two sons and
four daughters. Later her father married again, and four
sons and five daughters were born of this second marriage,
of whom one, a son, died in infancy. There has been some
speculation regarding the effect of this second marriage
on Mary Todd, and the stories are conflicting. It is known,
however, that it was bitterly resented by her maternal
grandmother Parker, and there seems to be some reason
for believing that her attitude had an influence on her
grandchildren.35

One of the most interesting and valuable books about
Mary Todd Lincoln, which is devoted to a close study
and analysis of her personality, has been written by Dr.
W. A. Evans. Dr. Evans believes that the large size of
Mary's family made a definite contribution to her per-
sonality. "In this home," he writes, "Mary Todd could
not have received much parental training. With ten chil-
dren around the fire-side — always one baby in arms and

114 Legends That Libel Lincoln

another crawling out of mother's lap to play on the floor
with a third — the mother had no energy or time for child-
training.36 . . . We can be reasonably sure that Mary
Todd, with her inherited introvert personality and her
drive and force, was much in need of training suited to
such personality, especially in the first eight years. . . .
What we know of her adult life indicates that as a young
child she did not receive the training her nature re-
quired." 37 Dr. Evans has made a study of members of
Mary's family and finds indications of eccentricity and
even of abnormality. This leads him to give his opinion:
"No small part of Mrs. Lincoln's traits of personality were
the result of inheritance — some good and some bad ... a
certain pattern of personality disturbance is noted weaving
in and out." 38

Whether or not Mary Todd received the parental
training her personality required may be a matter of opin-
ion. We do know that in the matter of schooling her edu-
cation was as good as Lexington afforded, and Lexington,
at that time, was a town of unusual culture, with excellent
schools and with Transylvania University exerting a large
influence. In her early years she attended the school of
Dr. Ward, noted for the soundness of its instruction in the
fundamentals as well as for its training in obedience, regu-
larity, and duty. At the age of fourteen she was transferred
to a boarding school known as Madame Mentelle's. Here,
for four years, she received the more or less finishing-school
education, with good instruction in English and French
literature. Here she acquired her ability to read and speak
the French language that was to stand her in good stead
many years later when, as mistress of the White House, she
was to meet representatives of foreign governments. 39

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 115

While she was acquiring her schooling, and afterward,
Mary Todd was absorbing politics. William H. Townsend
writes of this in his book, Lincoln and His Wife's Home
Town, as follows: "Mary Todd was a born politician. Since
her earliest recollection, the home of Robert S. Todd at
Lexington had been a favorite rendezvous for the Whig
chieftains of Kentucky. Mary knew them all: Robertson,
Combs, Morehead, Letcher, Menifee, Buckner, the bril-
liant Marshall, the wise and beloved Crittenden, and still
more intimately, the incomparable Clay, Lincoln's 'beau-
ideal of a statesman,' idol of the Whig Party throughout
the nation. She had heard these jurists, governors, mem-
bers of Congress, ministers to foreign countries, Cabinet
members, senators, and the candidate for President of the
United States discuss the various problems of statecraft, not
merely in public address, but around the fireside and julep
table of her father's house, and she was familiar with all
the important issues of the day." 40

Among these important issues, which steadily grew
more important, was the slavery problem. In Mary's home
were slaves. "Nowhere," it is said, "did the yoke of bond-
age rest more lightly than on the servants in the household
of Robert S. Todd." 41 Robert Todd was a leader of those
in Kentucky who believed in the gradual emancipation of
the slaves, and many intimate friends joined him in that
belief.42 Mary greatly admired her stepgrandmother Hum-
phreys who, in her will, provided for the freedom of all
her slaves upon reaching a specified age.43 However, Mary
knew the other side of the slavery problem. She had seen
the auction block and whipping post in the public square
of Lexington. She knew of cases of extreme cruelty to
slaves, and how some of these had shocked many people in

n6 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Lexington. She knew, too, that the father of her closest
friend, and others who were close friends of her own
father, were leaders of the strong pro-slavery faction of
Kentucky.44 Mr. Townsend writes: ". . . for ten years
before coming to Springfield, she had lived in the very
midst of bitter controversy on the subject" of slavery.45

All this knowledge Mary Todd was to take with her
to Springfield. All this she was to give to Abraham Lin-
coln. The one vital interest which came to absorb his mind
was the problem of slavery. To help him in his study of
that problem, Mr. Townsend declares that "it is no exag-
geration to say that Mary Todd possessed more first-hand
information on this subject than any other person with
whom he had yet come in contact.46 ... So it happened
that the little wife who went to live with Lincoln at the
modest Globe Tavern, through her girlhood experiences in
Lexington, was peculiarly fitted to share in the great task
which would make the man she married immortal. She had
been taught every phase of the great question, which finally
came to be nearest his heart, by the very man whom her
husband regarded with the most profound admiration.
. . . never did a young wife bring to a husband, inter-
ested in statecraft and anxious for preferment, such wealth
of first-hand information on a grave, moral and political
subject — such fruits of intimate association with great
public men of her day as did Mary Todd to Abraham
Lincoln." 47

With this wealth of firsthand information and experi-
ence, Mary Todd went to Springfield. She was a girl of vi-
vacity and charm, who quickly became one of the "belles"
of the town, described as being "handsome, accomplished,
vivacious, witty, a dashing and fascinating figure in dress

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 117

and conversation, gracious and imperious by turns." 48 Of
her, at that time, Herndon writes that "she was rather
pleasant, polite, civil, rather graceful in her movements,
intelligent, witty and sometimes bitter, too; she was a pol-
ished girl, well educated, a good linguist, a fine conversa-
tionalist, was educated thoroughly at Lexington, Kentucky
. . . " 49 He also says: "Her trenchant wit, affability, and
candor pleased the young men not less than her culture
and varied accomplishments impressed the older ones with
whom she came in contact." 50 Dr. Evans tells us: "She con-
versed wittily and, generally, in an engaging way. . . . She
attracted men and had ample opportunity for gauging
them.51 . . . She was a little too liable to do and say things
that were rooted in self-gratification, but her charm was
more than enough to balance." 52 In speaking of her at
about this period, a cousin of Mary's later wrote: "With-
out meaning to wound, she now and then could not re-
strain a witty, sarcastic speech that cut deeper than she
intended, for she had no malice in her heart. She was
impulsive and made no attempt to conceal her feel-
ings . . ." 53 Her wit, audacity, and charm are testified to
by her brother-in-law, Ninian W. Edwards, who is quoted
as remarking that "Mary could make a bishop forget his
prayers." 54 Mary Todd, however, had more than vivacity
and wit. She had a fine mind. She was well informed and
well read and could talk with intelligence on important
questions of the day. That she was temperamental, or mer-
curial, as some called her, with quickly changing moods
seems to have added to her charm. For charm she undoubt-
edly had in those days, a quality that, as Stephenson has
written, made many people in Springfield wonder why
Mary Todd married Abraham Lincoln.

n8 Legends That Libel Lincoln

It is difficult to believe that Mary Todd quickly lost
those many qualities which attracted young and old alike
when she first went to Springfield, that charm which many
write about. It is even more difficult to believe that she was
able, consciously and intentionally, to hide her allegedly
shrewish qualities until she had, in the slang expression,
"got her man," although that is what Herndon and others
claim she did. All marriages demand that adjustments be
made. Sometimes these are made smoothly and quickly;
sometimes slowly, with friction and many heartburnings.
Such, I think, was the case with Mary Todd and Abraham
Lincoln, those two strangely and widely different personal-
ities. Indeed, even before their marriage they were both to
suffer heartburnings, for on January 1, 1841, their engage-
ment was broken. Just what happened on that day is not
known. Herndon has given us a rather elaborate account
of a wedding all arranged, with the bride and guests await-
ing the arrival of the groom, who failed to appear and could
not be found, and with the bride finally going to her room
weeping and the guests departing in silence, leaving the
wedding supper untasted. So, he tells us, Mary's love was
killed, and she later married Lincoln out of a spirit of re-
venge. He pictures the pitiful condition of the groom,
driven insane, so some people later said, and tells how he
was unfitted to carry on his law practice or to attend the
sessions of the state legislature.

It is astonishing to note the elaborations and varia-
tions that have been woven around this fantastic tale of
Herndon's. Some have out-imagined him in their descrip-
tions of the wedding preparations and the scene at the
house while the assembled guests were awaiting the bride-
groom, for the one person who told Herndon that there

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 119

had been such an affair merely stated the fact and gave no
details. We are told that the missing groom was finally
found early the next morning wandering about talking in-
coherently to himself; that he was found, also early the
next morning, sitting despondently in his law office; and
one writer asserts that Lincoln spent the entire day of his
alleged wedding in the state legislature, "obviously because
he would be hard to get at there; at the wedding hour he
was introducing a license bill . . ." 55 Descriptions of Lin-
coln's alleged insanity vary with the imagination of the
writer. Many tell us that he could not carry on his work,
that he did not attend the legislature, that it was necessary
to guard him night and day lest he commit suicide, and
that soon his friend Joshua Speed took him to Kentucky
for a long visit until his reason was finally restored.

The truly amazing fact about the accounts of this
whole episode, however, is that not one bit of reliable con-
temporary evidence or testimony has ever been given in
support of it. Yet Herndon was living in Springfield at the
time. Surely such an incident would have been the talk of
the town, for Springfield was a small town, Mary Todd
was connected with several of its most prominent families,
and Lincoln was an important figure in the community.
Herndon, however, does not tell us a single thing that
came from his own knowledge of this affair, nor does he
give us any information which he learned at the time it
was supposed to have occurred. He does not give us the
name of even one wedding guest who witnessed the scene
which he described, nor does he quote such a guest. He re-
lied almost entirely on a statement made to him many
years later by Mary Todd's sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Ed-
wards. Her account is contradicted by two other sisters of

120 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Mary Todd's, Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Helm. It is denied by
Mary's cousin and intimate friend, Elizabeth Todd Grims-
ley, and by others who were living in Springfield at the
time and were well acquainted with both Mary Todd and
Abraham Lincoln.56

Students who have questioned accounts of this inci-
dent have found that no license was issued for a marriage
of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd on January 1, 1841.
The records of the state legislature have been examined
and show that on the day following this reported wedding,
the day on which Lincoln is said to have been out of his
head, he was present in the House of Representatives.
They show that throughout the remainder of the term he
was absent only six or seven days, although he does not
seem to have answered all the roll calls every day on which
he put in an appearance. Soon after the legislature ad-
journed, about March 1, Lincoln formed a law partnership
with Stephen T. Logan, and went out on the circuit. In
the summer he spent most of his time in Springfield, where
he was interested in two important cases.57 Of one of these
he wrote a long letter to his friend Joshua Speed, in June,
a letter which shows no trace of mental disturbance. In
August he visited Speed for a few weeks in Kentucky, re-
turning in September to go out again on the circuit.58

Just what happened on January 1, 1841, is not known.
Probably the engagement was broken on that day, but
whether this was done by Mary Todd or by Abraham Lin-
coln is a matter of dispute. Some tell us that Lincoln broke
the engagement because of Mary's flirtations with Stephen
A. Douglas, but there is no trustworthy evidence of such a
flirtation. Others say that Mary broke it because of Lin-
colns' attentions to her cousin, Matilda Edwards, who was

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 121

visiting in her household at that time. She, however, is
quoted as saying that "Lincoln never condescended to pay
her even a poor compliment." 59 Letters which Mary Todd
and James C. Conkling, a close friend of hers and of Lin-
coln's, wrote in the months that followed clearly show that
Mary and her cousin were the best of friends, attending
parties together and otherwise manifesting the best of feel-
ings toward each other. In one of her letters, Mary says of
her cousin, "a lovelier girl I never saw." 60 It is quite
apparent that Matilda Edwards was not the cause of the
broken engagement.

A few years ago Carl Sandburg and Paul M. Angle
collaborated on a study of Mrs. Lincoln in which they pub-
lished, for the first time, her letters and those of James C.
Conkling which have been mentioned. These letters cover
the period from July, 1840, to June, 1841, and were
written to Mercy Levering, Conkling's fiancee and a close
friend of Mary Todd's. One of Mary Todd's letters was
written in December, 1840, a short time before the sup-
posed wedding. In none of these letters is there a single
reference to a wedding, either a wedding planned or a wed-
ding date broken. Conkling wrote of the break between
Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln, but it is quite evident
that he believed Mary was responsible for it. In one letter
he wrote: "And L., poor hapless simple swain who loved
most true but was not loved again . . ." 61 If Lincoln had
done such a thing as to have failed to appear for his wed-
ding, Conkling would undoubtedly have mentioned it
when giving his fiancee news of her home-town friends.
Mary writes of her social life and gives news about friends
in Springfield. In one letter, written in June, 1841, she re-
fers to Lincoln whom she says she has not seen for months.

122 Legends That Libel Lincoln

"With the usual comfort of misery," she writes, "imagine
that others were as seldom gladdened by his presence as
my humble self, yet I would that the case were different,
that he would once more resume his station in Society, that
'Richard should be himself again,' much, much happiness
would it afford me." 62 This does not reflect the bitterness
of a woman scorned, in whom the seeds of revenge were
taking root. Instead, it is apparent that she was missing her
lover and was unhappy on that account. One cannot read
these letters, and Angle's discussion of them and his analy-
sis of this whole episode, without being confirmed in one's
belief, formed from other evidence, that nothing took place
on January 1, 1841, except probably a broken engagement.
Logan Hay, another Lincoln student of wide repute,
tells us that in the latter part of 1840 Lincoln worked un-
usually hard in the presidential campaign. He was worn
by his efforts and depressed by the defeat of the Whigs,
and the consequent blasting of his political aspirations. In
addition, he was much concerned over his engagement to
Mary Todd and his ability to make her happy. Three years
before he had been similarly troubled regarding marriage
to Mary Owens, and when he voiced his concern in letters
to her, which have been published, she declined his pro-
posals. It is Hay's opinion that "on January 1, 1841, Lin-
coln presented to Mary Todd the problem of their mar-
riage along much the same line as he presented a similar
problem to Mary Owens several years before, and that
Mary Todd, recognizing that in his depressed physical
condition he was not fully accountable, cancelled the en-
gagement sorrowfully but with the kindest of feelings." 63
The letters written by Mary Todd to Mercy Levering in
1841 and by Lincoln to Joshua Speed in 1842 cause Hay

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 123

to express the opinion that Mary "continued to manifest
toward him an affectionate solicitude and he concerned
himself with her doings." 64

We know that Lincoln suffered keenly after that "fatal
first of January" as he later spoke of it. So many another
man has suffered, particularly a sensitive man with a strong
sense of individual responsibility. Lincoln's letters to his
friend Joshua Speed, written over a period of many
months, show his anguish of mind, his self-questionings,
his fears and his hopes. He did not write about Mary; in-
deed, he mentioned her but once as "one still unhappy
whom I have contributed to make so. That still kills my
soul. I cannot but reproach myself for even wishing to be
happy while she is otherwise."65 He, too, could not forget
the one he loved. In these letters Lincoln began to take
upon himself the task of dispelling similar doubts and
questionings that had arisen in the mind of his friend
Speed who, by a strange coincidence, was torn with self-
questionings regarding his own approaching marriage. In
a series of very intimate letters Lincoln labored to banish
the doubts and fears of his friend, doubts and fears that
filled his own mind — the eternal questions: "Is my love
genuine? Am I the one to make her happy? Am I worthy
of her?" It is a strange man who has never asked himself
these and similar questions countless times, when in love,
and they are equally strange who say that such self-
questionings indicate that love is weak or may be lacking,
as some do when discussing Lincoln's long period of self-
analysis and mental anxiety.

As we read these letters we see Lincoln gradually
rising above his doubts and fears and gaining control over
his emotions. On February 25, 1842, he wrote to his friend:

124 Legends That Libel Lincoln

"I tell you, Speed, our forebodings (for which you and I
are peculiar) are the worst sort of nonsense . . . you say, you
much fear that that Elysium of which you have dreamed
so much is never to be realized. ... I now have no doubt
that it is the peculiar misfortune of both you and me to
dream dreams of Elysium far exceeding all that anything
earthly can realize." 66 Am I wrong in believing that, con-
sciously or unconsciously, Lincoln was writing to himself
as well as to Joshua Speed? Nathaniel W. Stephenson says
that these letters "were written . . . while Speed was
wrestling with the demon of self-analysis. In the period
which they cover, Lincoln delivered himself from that
same demon and recovered serenity." 67

So, at length, after a separation of almost two years,
Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd realized that they
needed each other. On November 4, 1842, they were
married.

Herndon would have us believe that Mary Todd only
married Lincoln in order to obtain revenge for the hu-
miliation he had caused her. This is an utterly fantastic
theory, which Joseph Fort Newton, one of Herndon's biog-
raphers, characterizes as "absurd." 68 Paul M. Angle writes
of this theory as follows: "No better example can be
found of the absurdities to which Herndon's propensity
for drawing inferences led him." 69 Herndon also origi-
nated the theory that Lincoln's only reason for marrying
Mary Todd was in order to save his honor, to keep his
promise. This implies that every broken engagement is dis-
honorable, an idea with which many doubtless will dis-
agree. Then, after telling of Lincoln's regard for his honor,
Herndon charges him with a most dishonorable act. He
contradicts himself again, and again libels his hero. He

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 125

makes the amazing statement, and makes it more than
once, that Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in order
to advance his social and political fortunes. Herndon
writes: "Conscious, therefore, of his humble rank in the
social scale, how natural that he should seek by mar-
riage in an influential family to establish strong connec-
tions and at the same time foster his political fortunes!" 70
In a letter to Jesse W. Weik he said that "Lincoln's mar-
riage was a policy marriage . . ." 71 Ward H. Lamon, who
echoes Herndon so often, writes as follows: "Born in the
humblest circumstances, uneducated, poor, acquainted with
flat-boats and groceries, but a stranger to the drawing room,
it was natural that he should seek in a matrimonial
alliance those social advantages which he felt were neces-
sary to his political advancement. This was, in fact, his
view of the matter . . ." 72 To Herndon and Lamon such
an act might have appeared natural. To Abraham Lincoln
it would have been the act of a man without honor. These
statements show to what lengths some people will go in
order to support a theory. Herndon originated the idea
that Lincoln loved only Ann Rutledge. To support that
theory he was forced to say that Lincoln did not love his
wife, and to support this second theory he was compelled
to find some reason for the marriage. This led him to
charge his hero with an utterly discreditable and dishonor-
able act without, apparently, realizing what he was doing.
It was not a life of ease that Lincoln offered his bride.
For almost a year they lived at the Globe Tavern, where
the cost of room and board was but four dollars a week.
Then, for a short time, they rented a small house. In 1 844
they purchased the house in which they lived throughout
their remaining Springfield years. Lincoln had heavy debts

126 Legends That Libel Lincoln

hanging over him from his New Salem days. It was to take
him several years to pay this "national debt," as he called
it, and much scrimping and much doing without were re-
quired. The house must be paid for, and the demands of
a growing family of boys called for more self-denial, plan-
ning, and work. As Carl Sandburg writes: "They [the
boys] made a houseful. Their mother had maids for house-
work but until the family went to the White House to
live, she usually sewed her own dresses, did much of the
sewing for the children, and took on herself many of the
thousand and one little cares and daily chores that accom-
pany the feeding and clothing of babies, and upbringing
of lusty and mischievous boys. She had hours, days, years
of washing and nursing these little ones, tending their gar-
ments, overseeing their school studies, watching their be-
havior, instructing them as to the manners of gentlemen,
keeping an eye on their health, working and worrying over
them when they were sick. Even those who could not see
her as pleasant company, even the ones who believed her a
vixen and a shrew, gave testimony that she was an excep-
tional mother, brooding over her offspring with the touch
of a tigress." 73

There were many, it would seem, who could not see
her as a pleasant companion and others who believed her
to be a shrew. Her friends do not deny her temper, which
too often went beyond control. Nor do they deny her sharp
and sometimes caustic tongue, which at times wounded
her friends and made enemies. They tell us that Mary real-
ized her shortcomings and was deeply regretful of her flare-
ups, for flare-ups they seem to have been, as is usually the
case with hot, quick tempers. It may well be that even this
early in life Mary was suffering from that cerebral disease

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 127

which her doctor, after her death, said he was satisfied had
long been her trouble, an opinion he believed was con-
firmed by a post-mortem examination which he made.74
We know that she suffered from severe headaches during
these years, and we know, too, that after her husband's
assassination she was clearly unbalanced. Some students be-
lieve that this cerebral disease was slowly progressing
throughout a considerable portion of her adult life and
that many of her unfortunate outbursts of temper were
due to this.

There is no need to retell, here, all the stories about
her that have come down to us. They will be found in
many biographies of her husband, although I wonder
whether they really belong there. Some tell certain stories;
others give different ones. A few seem to have hunted out
every known tale. Most of the stories relate to her temper,
but some tell of her alleged stinginess and of her love of
display. One critical person illustrated what she termed
"putting on airs" by telling how Mrs. Lincoln objected to
her husband coming to dinner in his shirtsleeves, a criti-
cism more illuminative of the critic than of the one criti-
cized. That Mrs. Lincoln was probably annoyed by many
of her husband's habits is not surprising. He was almost
thirty-four years old when he married her, and he had
lived those years in an environment completely different
and far more crude than that in which his wife had been
reared. Undoubtedly he had formed many habits that were
irritating to her and would have been so to many women.
From all accounts he was sloppy in his dress while on the
circuit. This leads one to believe that he was even more so
at home. Most men are. We read that he liked to take off
his shoes, his coat, collar and tie, let down his suspenders

128 Legends That Libel Lincoln

and lie down on the floor to read, with his back resting on
a turned-down chair. He would answer the front doorbell
in such disarray in a perfectly unconscious manner. Many
wives, no doubt, would have objected to this and to many
of his habits, just as we are told Mrs. Lincoln did. But she
was not putting on airs when she did so. She was merely
doing what any good wife should do in trying to correct
crudities in her husband, particularly a wife who was also
trying to instill good habits in her children. We read that
she found fault with his table manners. Here, again, she
probably had reason to be critical, for his table manners
had been picked up in frontier cabins where table utensils
were scarce, and in the rudest kind of country taverns.
Mary Todd Lincoln may not have been tactful in her criti-
cisms. Nevertheless, one can only feel that she was entirely
right, and Lincoln the president showed that he had prof-
ited greatly from her teachings. Even so, as president, he
often caused comment by his sloppy dress, particularly
after regular office hours. Many who went to the White
House at night have reported finding him in his slippers
or sitting with his stocking feet on a table or window sill.
On formal occasions, however, he impressed everyone with
his rare dignity and sense of fitness. After meeting Presi-
dent Lincoln, for the first time, at Gettysburg and dining
with him, Edward Everett wrote: "In gentlemanly appear-
ance, manners, and conversation, the President was the
peer of any man at the table." 75

We are told that Mrs. Lincoln was stingy and that she
set so meager a table that her husband never invited his
friends to dinner. Of course I should like to ask how people
knew that the table was so meager if they never dined at
the Lincoln home. It is quite possible that there was little

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 129

entertainment at this house in the early years of Mr. and
Mrs. Lincoln's married life. We must remember that he
was a poor man with heavy debts. His earnings were small.
It took many years to pay his debts, and while he was
doing this he was paying for his home and, from time to
time, was sending money to his father and mother. Four
babies came to this household in the first ten or twelve
years. They probably suffered the usual illnesses of child-
hood as well as, in one case, an unusual illness: Eddy, the
second son, died in 1850. Mrs. Lincoln did much of her
own housework. I can imagine that things were a little
thick for her at times. No doubt, at the end of many a day
there was little energy left for parties, even if funds had
been more abundant. But Lincoln paid off his debts, he
paid for his house, he sent money to his father and mother,
and he saved money; and his wife helped him to do these
things by counting the pennies and bargaining and scrimp-
ing to the extent that she was called stingy. We are told
that her temper was to blame for not having a maid all
the time, and doubtless it must bear its share of the blame.
Possibly, however, a houseful of undisciplined and ram-
bunctious boys, and from all reports they were that, had
something to do with the servant problem. Some residents
of Springfield at that time tell us that in that small town
servants were difficult to get. Possibly, in some instances,
the maid might have been at fault. Sometimes that seems
to be the case.

Lincoln, himself, may have been responsible for the
stories of lack of entertainment at his home, to some ex-
tent at least. He was a strange man in many ways. The
friendliest, kindliest of men, with a host of admirers and
friends eager to help him in any way within their power,

130 Legends That Libel Lincoln

he nevertheless had tew really intimate friends. There was
about him a certain quality, a reserve and dignity, particu-
larly in his later years, that seemed to act as a bar to in-
timacy. One student has written: "For Lincoln himself
home was a fireside where he rested, reflected and enjoyed
the companionship of his own family. He was not a social
being. He made few intimate friends in the sense in which
'intimate' generally is used." 76 And, again, this writer
comments that "socially the house, as far as Lincoln him-
self was concerned, meant little or nothing to him." 77

Nevertheless, we find that in their later years in
Springfield Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln did do some modest en-
tertaining in their home. In the diary of Senator Orville
H. Browning, a close friend, there are entries telling of
dinners and other entertainments at the Lincoln home.
Isaac N. Arnold, another close friend, makes the following
statement in his biography of Lincoln: "He occupied a
small, unostentatious house in Springfield, and was in the
habit of entertaining, in a very simple way, his friends and
brethren of the bar, during the terms of the Court and the
sessions of the Legislature. Mrs. Lincoln often entertained
small numbers of friends at dinner, and somewhat larger
numbers at evening parties.. In his modest and simple
home, everything was orderly and refined, and there was
always on the part of both Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, a cor-
dial, hearty, western welcome, which put every guest per-
fectly at ease. Her table was famed for the excellence of its
rare Kentucky dishes, and in season was loaded with veni-
son, wild turkey, prairie chickens, quails, and other game,
which in those days was abundant. Yet it was the genial
manner and ever kind welcome of the hostess, and the wit
and humor, anecdote, and unrivalled conversation of the

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 131

host, which formed the chief attraction, and made a dinner
at Lincoln's cottage an event to be remembered." 78

Herndon tells how, on some occasions, he would ar-
rive at the office early in the morning and find his partner
already there, and how Lincoln would barely return a
morning greeting, but would sit silent and brooding, and
how, on such occasions, Herndon would leave the office,
locking the door behind him so that none might intrude,
and would not return for an hour or two, after "the cloud
of despondency had passed away." 79 Herndon knew, with-
out a word or hint from Lincoln, he tells us, that Lincoln
had been driven from his unhappy home on those morn-
ings. He also relates how at noon, on some days, Lincoln
would not go home for luncheon, but would stay in the
office and eat crackers and cheese purchased at the gro-
cery; how in the evenings, he would often leave Lincoln
at the foot of the office stairway or on the courthouse steps
entertaining some loungers, and reluctant to return to his
home; how Lincoln sometimes spent the evening at his
office, returning to his home at a late hour, or, as Herndon
puts it, to the house which "it pleased the world, in a con-
ventional way, to call his home." 80 We learn from neigh-
bors of the Lincoln family that Lincoln sometimes did
leave the house when his wife had a fit of temper, and that
might have been the case on some of the occasions which
Herndon noted. But such actions as Herndon describes do
not necessarily mean an unhappy home. Might it not be
possible, for instance, that Lincoln did not go home for
lunch on certain days because his wife was not well, be-
cause she was house cleaning, or for some other equally
simple reason? Lincoln had acquired a habit of "browsing
around," as he called it, instead of eating his meals at the

132 Legends That Libel Lincoln

regular time and place. Perhaps he liked to "browse" on
crackers and cheese at times. As to his brooding and ab-
sorption in his own thoughts, that was one of his most
striking characteristics. In discussing his partner's personal
characteristics, Herndon dwells at length on his self-absorp-
tion, his brooding, and his long periods of silence. In this
discussion Herndon makes no mention of an unhappy
domestic life as being the cause. "Melancholy dripped
from him as he walked . . . Often when on the street, he
was so abstracted that he took no notice of those who met
and spoke to him," Herndon tells us.81 Many of Lincoln's
friends have talked about this, residents of Springfield and
lawyers who traveled the circuit with him. "So inter-
mingled were Lincoln's melancholy and abstraction,"
writes Beveridge, "that some of his friends and admirers
could not tell whether he was lost in thought or gloom." 82
Herndon believed that his brooding was strongly colored
by his apprehension of personal disaster, and quotes him
as saying: "Billy, I fear that I shall meet with some terrible
end." 83 Beveridge believed that political disappointments
played their part in bringing on periods of despondency
in the Springfield years.84 But when Herndon writes about
Lincoln's domestic life, to that, and that alone, is laid the
blame for Lincoln's long brooding silences in his office.

We are also told that Lincoln, when traveling the cir-
cuit, would not go home at weekends to visit his family,
as his fellow attorneys did, and how the impression was
that this was because of his unhappy home life. Yet we
know that Lincoln adored his boys. He loved to play and
romp with them; he could find no fault in them; and in-
dulged them in every way he could. Even that love, we are
asked to believe, could not lure him home. Apparently it

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 133

did not occur to his fellow lawyers that perhaps he was
gloomy, when he saw them leaving for their homes, be-
cause it was often physically impossible for him to go to
his family. The Eighth Judicial Circuit was originally
about 150 miles long and nearly as wide. At its largest ex-
tent, and when transportation was poorest, it covered ap-
proximately 1 1,000 square miles.85 There were no railroads
in this circuit until about 1853 or 1854. The roads were
wretched, particularly in the spring of the year. Travel by
horseback or horse and buggy was slow and arduous. Lin-
coln was one of the very few attorneys, some say he was
the only one, who traveled the entire circuit. Let us see
what Paul M. Angle has to say about this: 'Trior to the
'50's when the main lines of most of the present railroad
systems of Illinois were constructed, Lincoln could have
had little opportunity to return to his home on weekends.
While most of the lawyers of the circuit practiced only in
counties adjacent to their own, he made the entire round.
Since courts were held on both Saturday and Monday, dis-
tance prevented him from returning to Springfield except
at long intervals, though other attorneys, living much near-
er, might visit their families almost every week. As a mat-
ter of fact, as transportation facilities improved Lincoln's
absences became shorter and shorter." 86 By 1857 the cir-
cuit was reduced in size to five counties and each county
seat could be reached by a railroad. According to Angle:
"As early as 1854 Lincoln could — and did — leave Spring-
field for Clinton on a Tuesday morning, arrive there that
afternoon, spend three days in court, and return home
again on Friday night." 87 Dr. Louis A. Warren has carried
the investigation of Lincoln's absences still further, using
for this purpose a record of Lincoln's day-to-day move-

134 Legends That Libel Lincoln

merits which was prepared by Angle after much patient
and painstaking research. In the years from 1854 to 1857,
which were probably Lincoln's busiest years on the circuit,
and the years in which railroad transportation began to be
available, Dr. Warren finds that Lincoln spent only forty-
eight Sundays away from home in the entire four-year pe-
riod. Of those forty-eight Sundays, thirty-two were spent at
points where it would have been physically impossible for
him to have gone home and been back in court on Mon-
day morning. The remaining sixteen Sundays were spent
in traveling from one court to the next.88 Thus another of
Herndon's allegations falls before the facts presented by
painstaking research.

Herndon also quotes this statement from a friend of
Lincoln's whose name he does not give: "The fact that
Mary Todd, by her turbulent nature and unfortunate
manner, prevented her husband from becoming a domestic
man, operated largely in his favor; for he was thereby kept
out in the world of business and politics. Instead of spend-
ing his evenings at home, reading the papers and warming
his toes at his own fireside, he was constantly out with the
common people, was mingling with the politicians, dis-
cussing public questions with the farmers who thronged
the offices in the courthouse and state house, and exchang-
ing views with the loungers who surrounded the stove of
winter evenings in the village store." 89 There we have an
expression of the idea that she "nagged him into great-
ness." I cannot help but ask these questions: Was the home
life of the politicians, the farmers, the loungers, also un-
happy? Were they, too, being "nagged into greatness" by
their wives? According to this friend, there could be no
other reason for their being away from their own firesides.

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 135

Springfield must have been a very pleasant town, with so
many men driven from their homes by the turbulent na-
tures of their wives, and forced to "throng the offices of
the courthouse and state house" or loaf around the stove
in the village store. Possibly Lincoln's nocturnal wander-
ings, which this man mentions, may have been the cause
rather than the result of some displays of temper on the
part of his wife, and give some foundation for the remark
which her nextdoor neighbor, James Gourley, reports that
she made to him to the effect that "if her husband had
stayed at home as he ought to that she could love him
better." 89

As Nathaniel W. Stephenson has written, there was
much gossip. "Some of the gossip," Carl Sandburg believes,
"rested on solid foundation of fact." Much of it, he says,
"ran on the theory that in every house there is either a
master-man or a henpecked husband, either a domineering
woman or a doormat. Both gossip and science have little to
guide them in effecting a true and searching explanation
of the married life of a slow-going wilderness bear and a
cultivated, tempestuous wildcat." 90 "Did she on one occa-
sion," he writes, "chase him out of the house with a broom-
stick? One woman told of it years afterwards. It may have
been so, though no other witness has come forward to tell
about it, and the next-door neighbors, the Gourleys, re-
called no affair of the broomstick. . . . Did she throw a
bucket of water on his head from a second-story window
as he stood at the front door asking to be let in? Such a
tale has been told and was once published in a foreign lan-
guage newspaper . . . though Herndon and others never
heard of it." 92

Herndon tells that Lincoln never discussed his domes-

136 Legends That Libel Lincoln

tic affairs with anyone. ''Mr. Lincoln never had a con-
fidant, and therefore never unbosomed himself to others.
He never spoke of his trials to me or, so far as I knew, to
any of his friends." 93 Thus Herndon makes it clear that
he was merely inferring and using his imagination in much
that he wrote. Sandburg is correct when he says: "What
went on behind the doors and window blinds of the two-
story cottage at the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets
was the secret of those who lived in it. . . ." 94

Undoubtedly these two "intense and special individ-
uals" had their ups and downs. Doubtless it took them
longer than it often takes others to make those adjust-
ments which are essential to a life partnership. Honore
Willsie Morrow says that "they climbed the final hilltop to
understanding when they had been married about seven
years." 95 It was, she thinks, the death of the second son,
Eddy, that brought true understanding to them. I am in-
clined to believe that they reached the point of sympa-
thetic understanding in less time, for letters written to
each other in 1848, during the period of Lincoln's service
as congressman, reflect real comradeship. But why specu-
late as to how long it took them to reach this basis of
partnership, for reach it they did. "Managing a family and
household," writes Carl Sandburg, "is the work and care
of a husband and wife as distinguished from two lovers.
The husband must attend to the 'husbandry,' the bread-
and-butter supply, while the wife loves, cherishes and
obeys him; that is the theory; an ancient Saxon verb has
it that she 'wifes' him. We know from the 1848 letters
of Lincoln and his wife that he was husbanding their re-
sources and that she 'wifed' him. We can be sure, too, that
for much of the time Lincoln and his wife went about

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 137

their concerns peacefully and with quiet affection for each
other. Domestic flare-ups, nerve-snappings, come to all
couples; perhaps to these two they simply came more fre-
quently and more violently. Authentic records — letters
written without any thought of future readers — contain
many glimpses of placid relations. One can read nothing
but calm contentment into Lincoln's sentence about a
novel which he had received from a friend: 'My wife got
hold of the volume I took home, read it half through last
night, and is greatly interested in it.' Only the comrade-
ship that comes to those who understand each other can
be inferred from Mrs. Lincoln's comment on a trip east:
'When I saw the large steamers at the New York landings
I felt in my heart inclined to sigh that poverty was my
portion. How I long to go to Europe. I often laugh and
tell Mr. Lincoln that I am determined my next husband
shall be rich.' " 96

Let us look at a few letters that passed between Abra-
ham and Mary Lincoln while he was in Washington as
congressman. Not many have been preserved, but those
which have reflect the "calm contentment" that Sandburg
mentions, that homey quality which could not exist if
there had not been mutual sympathy and understanding.
Some of the letters are long, containing gossip of friends,
of Washington or Lexington. I shall not give them in full,
but I do wish to quote enough to give their flavor.

Washington, April 16, 1848.
Dear Mary:

In this troublesome world, we are never quite satisfied.
When you were here, I thought you hindered me some in
attending to business; but now, having nothing but business —
no vanity — it has grown exceedingly tasteless to me. I hate to

138 Legends That Libel Lincoln

sit down and direct documents, and I hate to stay in this old
room by myself. . . .

I went yesterday to hunt the little plaid stockings as you
wished, but found that McNight has quit business and Allen
had not a single pair of the description you give and only
one plaid pair of any sort that I thought would fit "Eddy's
dear little feet." I have a notion to make another trial to-
morrow morning. . . .

I wish you to enjoy yourself in every possible way, but is
there no danger of wounding the feelings of your good father
by being too openly intimate with the Wickliffe family? . . .

Very soon after you went away I got what I think a very
pretty set of shirt-bosom studs — modest little ones, jet set in
gold, only costing 50 cents a piece or $1.50 for the whole.

Are you entirely free from headaches? That is good —
good considering it is the first spring that you have been free
from it since we were acquainted. I am afraid you will get so
well and fat and young as to be wanting to marry again.
Tell Louisa I want her to watch you a little for me. Get
weighed and write me how much you weigh.

I did not get rid of the impression of that foolish dream
about dear Bobby until I got your letter written the same day.
What did he and Eddy think of the letters father sent them?
Don't let the blessed fellows forget father. . . .

Most affectionately,

A. Lincoln 97

Lexington, May '48.
My dear Husband —

You will think indeed, that old age has set it seal upon
my humble self, that in few or none of my letters, I can re-
member the day of the month, I must confess it as one of
my peculiarities; I feel wearied 8c tired enough to know, that
this is Saturday night, our babies are asleep, and as Aunt
Maria B. is coming in for me tomorrow night, morning, I
think the chances will be rather dull that I shall answer your
last letter tomorrow. . . . Grandma has received a letter from

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 139

Uncle James Parker of Miss saying he 8c his family would be
up by the twenty fifth of June, would remain here some little
time 8c go on to Philadelphia to take their oldest daughter
there to school. I believe it would be a good chance for me
to pack up Sc accompany them. You know I am so fond of
sight-seeing, Sc I did not get to New York or Boston, or travel
the lake route. But perhaps, dear husband, like the irresistible
Col Mc, cannot do without his wife next winter, and must
needs take her with him again. I expect you would cry aloud
against it. How much, I wish instead of writing, we were
together this evening, I feel very sad away from you. . . .
I expect my long scrawls, for truly such they are, weary you
greatly. If you come on, in July or August I will take you' to
the springs. Patty Webb's, school in S — closes the first of July.
I expect Mr. Webb will come on for her. I must go down
about that time & carry on quite a flirtation, you know we,
always had a penchant that way. I must bid you good night.
Do not fear the children, have forgotten you, I was only jest-
ing. Even E-s eyes brighten at the mention of your name. My
love to all. Truly yours,

M. L.98

Washington, June 12, 1848.
My dear Wife:

On my return from Philadelphia yesterday, where in my
anxiety I have been led to attend the Whig convention I
found your last letter. I was so tired and sleepy, having ridden
all night, that I could not answer it till today; and now I have
to do so in the H. R. The leading matter in your letter is
your wish to return to this side of the mountains, — Will you
be a good girl in all things, if I consent? Then come along,
and that as soon as possible. Having got the idea in my head,
I shall be impatient till I see you. ... If your uncle is al-
ready at Lexington, you might induce him to start in earlier
than the first of July ... I hope this letter will not be dis-
agreeable to you; which, together with the circumstances
under which I write, I hope will excuse me for not writing a

140 Legends That Libel Lincoln

longer one. Come on just as soon as you can — I want to see
you and our dear dear boys very much. Everybody here wants
to see our dear Bobby.

Affectionately,

A. Lincoln"

Washington, July 2, 1848
My dear Wife:

Your letter of last Sunday came last night. On that day
(sunday) I wrote the principal part of a letter to you, but
did not finish it, or send it till tuesday, when I had provided
a draft for $100 which I sent in it. It is now probable that on
that day (tuesday) you had started to Shelby ville; so that
when the money reaches Lexington, you will not be there.
. . . Write me whether you got the draft, if you have not
already done so, when this reaches you. Give my kindest re-
gards to your Uncle John, and all the family. . . . Last
Wednesday P. H. Hood & Co. dunned me for a little bill of
$5.38 cents, and Walter Harper & Co another for $8.50 cents,
for goods which they say you bought. I hesitated to pay them,
because my recollection is that you told me when you went
away, there was nothing left unpaid. Mention in your letter
whether they are right. . . .

Mrs. Richardson is still here; and what is more, has a
baby — so Richardson says, and he ought to know. . . .

By the way, you do not intend to do without a girl, be-
cause the one you had has left you? Get another as soon as
you can to take care of the dear codgers. Father expected to
see you all sooner; but let it pass; stay as long as you please,
and come when you please. Kiss and love the dear rascals.

Affectionately,

A. Lincoln 10°

In a collection of Lincoln papers and letters published
a few years ago, the editor contends that this last letter
evidences that Mrs. Lincoln was not performing her duties
as helpmate, that she was "running up bills" which she

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 141

was hiding from her husband, and that she treated her
servants so badly that they would not work for her. These
are purely assumptions based, in part, on tradition and, in
part, on what is known of Mrs. Lincoln in later years. Mr.
Lincoln makes no comment, whatever, in his letter regard-
ing Mrs. Lincoln's manner of dealing with servants, no
suggestion that this was the cause of one maid leaving her
employ. The letter simply states that one maid had quit
her job. No reason was given or suggested, and no one
knows why she did so except this editor who, more than
ninety years later, tells us what the reason was. And he
tells it as a fact, not as a possibility. Furthermore, this
critic knows without question that Mrs. Lincoln, at that
time, was running up bills and concealing that fact from
her husband. It is rather absurd to call two bills of $5.38
and $8.50 evidences of extravagant purchases or of running
up bills. Nor is there any indication in Mr. Lincoln's let-
ter that his wife was trying to conceal these bills from her
husband or that he thought she was trying to do so. Honest
mistakes can be made, and Mrs. Lincoln might well have
overlooked these two petty items when she talked to her
husband. Then, too, it is quite possible that she paid those
two little bills and that the stores were mistaken. Such
things have happened. Merely because it is known that
many years later, when in the White House, Mrs. Lincoln
did make extravagant purchases which she did conceal
from her husband, it is assumed by her critic that she made
them at the time of this letter. This attitude of mind
seems to be typical of many writers who are apparently un-
willing to give Mrs. Lincoln the benefit of a single doubt,
but, on the contrary, appear almost eager to interpret her

142 Legends That Libel Lincoln

actions critically or to draw inferences that will be dam-
aging to her.

While it is true that there was gossip on the part of
some Springfield people that Mrs. Lincoln skimped house-
hold expenses in order to spend money on her clothes,
there seems to be no substantial evidence of this. Dr. Evans
writes: "The accounts of Mary Todd's life in Springfield
do not show that she dressed extravagantly. Her clothing
was appropriate, but it was not indicative of 'money to
burn.' . . . The account which he [Lincoln] ran at Smith's
store, and which can still be seen in Springfield, includes
such items as cloth, buttons, and thread and indicates that
Mrs. Lincoln made the children's clothes as well as some
of her own and Mr. Lincoln's, and that they lived modestly
and sensibly." 101

These letters of Lincoln's Congressional years reveal
genuine companionship. They indicate that, although the
domestic waters sometimes were ruffled, the squalls soon
blew over. While her presence in the close quarters of a
boardinghouse room had disturbed her husband, her ab-
sence had proved to be equally disturbing to him. He
missed her and was lonesome without her. A husband does
not write such letters to a wife who is making his home
life a "domestic hell on earth." Undoubtedly Mrs. Mor-
row was correct when she expressed the belief that they
"climbed the final hilltop to understanding." And Carl
Sandburg was not wrong in saying that these letters reveal
"calm contentment and placid relations."

Now let us look at Mrs. Lincoln and her husband
through the eyes of some of their close friends. Mention
has been made of Henry B. Rankin, the young man who
served as clerk in the Lincoln and Herndon law office. He

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 143

writes: "Mary Todd came into Lincoln's life at one of its
most important and critical periods. He needed far more
than most men a refined and well-appointed home. She
gave him this to the most exacting details of neatness and
punctuality. More than that, she believed in him and loved
him devotedly. She had a faith that a great future awaited
him. She stimulated his ambition to work and seek the
prominence he won. . . . She was quick to speak her mind;
for which she suffered more in herself and by defamation
from others than anybody else." 10- "It was remarked to
me by one who had known Mrs. Lincoln long and very
intimately, that her frank and spirited manner, her can-
dour of speech and independence of thought, often gave
offense where none was meant. She was never ungracious
towards strangers nor did she ever intentionally wound a
friend." 103

Henry C. Whitney was a young lawyer who traveled
the circuit with Lincoln, shared the same room with him
in country taverns, frequently the same bed. He fully
recognized Mrs. Lincoln's individual and personal short-
comings, but he believed that she was judged chiefly by
these and not by her virtues which, in his words, "were
hidden behind the sacred aegis of the domestic circle." 104
"But the world does not, and cannot know," he claims,
"how much it is indebted to this lady that her distin-
guished husband's ambition was fired and stimulated to
reach for the grand prize finally awarded to him, nor how
much he was indebted to her for words of cheer — of hope
— of comfort and solace, when all seemed dark. . . . Lin-
coln thoroughly loved his wife. I had many reasons to
know this in my intimacy with him, and she therefore
wrought a great influence over him." 105

144 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Katherine Helm, daughter of Mary Todd Lincoln's
half sister Emilie (later Emilie Todd Helm), has written a
most interesting book about her aunt, using as her sources
various family letters and documents including her
mother's recollections and wartime diary. She gives many
pictures of family life in the Lincoln home, pictures of
contentment, of love, of mutual consideration, thoughtful-
ness, and dependence on the part of both husband and
wife. She gives us letters written by Mrs. Lincoln to her
sister, happy letters which give no hint of strained family
relations. She gives an account of a visit which her mother
made to Springfield in the winter of 1856-57 and of which
she made a full record. A small portion of that record fol-
lows: "It was in December when I arrived, and Springfield
was in the midst of a whirl of gayety; parties and balls fol-
lowed each other in quick succession; and sister Mary was
very gay that winter. I was struck with her exquisite taste
in dress. One gown, I remember, was a lovely lavender
brocade which she had made herself. . . . Mary enjoyed
reading a wide range of subjects, often reviewing a book
for Mr. Lincoln. I heard him say that he had no need to
read a book after Mary had given him a synopsis. He had
great respect for her judgment and never took an impor-
tant step without consulting her. Mr. Lincoln appealed to
the eternal feminine in Mary. She mothered her husband
as she did her children, and he seemed very dependent
upon her. . . . She watched his health as she did that of
her little sons, and he never seemed impatient over all the
fuss made over him. . . . Mary often watched for her hus-
band and when it grew time for him to come home she
would meet him at the gate and they would walk to the
front door swinging hands and joking like two children.

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 145

Anyone could see that Mr. Lincoln admired Mary and was
very proud of her. . . . Mr. Lincoln enjoyed his home
and he and Mary idolized their children. So far as I could
see there was complete harmony and loving kindness
between Mary and her husband, consideration for each
other's wishes and a taste for the same books. They seemed
congenial in all things." 106

William H. Townsend gives this picture of Mary read-
ing to her husband: "Mary was fond of reading aloud,
and many were the evenings she read the stirring events
in the 'home' paper while Lincoln listened soberly, his
chair tipped back against the chimney jamb in the living
room; his feet encased in huge black velvet carpet-slippers
on the vamps of which Mary had painstakingly embroi-
dered the initials 'A. L.' " 107 The "home" paper was the
Lexington Observer, which came regularly to the Lincoln
house throughout all the Springfield years. Through this
paper and her earlier knowledge of slavery, Mary Todd
Lincoln was helping her husband in his study of the slavery
problem. In his intensely concentrated manner Lincoln
was pondering this problem throughout the years follow-
ing the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the deliv-
ery of the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court. The
growing importance of that problem brought him back
into politics. His grasp of it lifted him into the Presi-
dency. His understanding of the southern people, particu-
larly those of the border states, enabled him to prevent the
secession of those states, and contributed in no small meas-
ure to the success of the Union cause. Later, in the White
House, Lincoln acknowledged the help that his wife's
home-town paper had been to him, by arranging for it and
other Kentucky papers to be sent to him, saying: "The

146 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Observer has been coming to our home ever since Mary
and I were married and I reckon there is no better
weather-cock for Kentucky politics just now." 108

In an excellent article entitled "In Defense of Mrs.
Lincoln" which appeared a few years ago in the Journal
of the Illinois Historical Society, C. C. Ritze writes: "Can
it be possible that Lincoln, keen observer that he was, and
getting his education not so much out of books as out of
the minds of men and women, could live in Springfield
for eighteen years with this stout-hearted, ambitious South-
ern woman, and not have his mind influenced by her, di-
rectly as well as indirectly? . . . And much as we want to
give Lincoln credit for the development of his own mind,
and great as is the credit due him for his own exertions in
that regard, let us not deceive ourselves that Lincoln owes
nothing to others. His mind did not grow up, like Topsy,
by itself. It was influenced and developed by his environ-
ment and the contact of other minds with his own. And
it touched the mind of his wife more intimately than any
other." 109

Mary Todd Lincoln was able to influence her hus-
band because her keen mind was guided by a great love
for and an intense pride in him, and because Lincoln fully
realized this. Herndon writes that "when occasionally she
came down to our office, it seemed to me then that she
was inordinately proud of her tall and ungainly husband.
... If to other persons he seemed homely, to her he was
the embodiment of noble manhood. . . . 'Mr. Lincoln
may not be as handsome a figure,' she said one day in the
office during her husband's absence, when the conversation
turned on Douglas, 'but the people are perhaps not aware
that his heart is as large as his arms are long.' " 110 Hern-

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 147

don has asked us to believe that the woman who paid this
tribute to her husband married him not because she loved
him but out of a spirit of revenge. How he tears down his
own pet theories! Lincoln was ready to be influenced by
his wife because he loved her, admired her, and was proud
of her. Many testify to this, and we read much of his un-
failing thoughtfulness and consideration, often displayed
in little attentions which he paid to her. She was, we are
told, much afraid of thunderstorms. Lincoln often would
leave his office and go home so as to be with her during
such storms. He shared his hopes and disappointments
with her. In his memoirs Gustave Koerner, at one time a
justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois, and later lieu-
tenant governor of that state, tells how he found Lincoln,
after the debate with Douglas at Alton, Illinois, in a
rather despondent mood. "He at once said, 'Let us go and
see Mary.' " When the three were together, Lincoln said
to Koerner: " 'Now, tell Mary what you think of our
chances, she is rather dispirited.' "i11

We read accounts of trips which Mr. and Mrs. Lin-
coln took together, not many, it is true, for travel was
difficult in those days, and a houseful of young boys did
not make it easy to leave home together. We read, too,
numerous reports of Lincoln's pride in his home, a feeling
that would not have been manifested if it had been a
place to which he was reluctant to go. On one occasion,
shortly before his death, Lincoln voiced his tender feel-
ing for his Springfield home. In April, 1865, he was at
City Point, Virginia, visiting General Grant. In his party
was the Marquis de Chambrun, who later wrote a long
account of his experiences and his impressions of Presi-
dent Lincoln. At one time he says that he mentioned

148 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Springfield to Lincoln, who exclaimed: "Springfield! How
happy, four years hence, will I be to return there in peace
and tranquillity." 112 That was his memory of his Spring-
field home.

A few years ago, in the Illinois State Register, of
Springfield, there appeared a very pretty picture of Mrs.
Lincoln given by one who had it firsthand from Mrs.
Charles Dallman, a Springfield neighbor of the Lincolns'.
Several different people, who also heard this story from
Mrs. Dallman, have told it in essentially the same way.
The Dallman home was on Jackson Street, just around
the corner from the Lincoln home. Early in 1853 a DaDy
was born to Mrs. Dallman at about the same time that
Tad Lincoln was born. Mrs. Dallman was quite ill and
was unable to nurse her baby. When Mrs. Lincoln learned
of this, she sent her husband regularly each day to get the
infant so that she might nurse it. Mrs. Dallman described
how Lincoln "knocked at the door, entered with a gentle
step so as not to disturb the sick mother," and carefully
gathered up the baby in his large hands, carried it across
the street to Mrs. Lincoln, returning with it later and lay-
ing it in its cradle in the same gentle and silent manner.
This continued as long as was necessary. The Dallman
baby died in early childhood, and again Mary Lincoln
showed her thoughtfulness, for Mrs. Dallman related how,
upon the family's return from the cemetery, Mrs. Lincoln
sent her husband over with a large tray bearing a supper
which she had prepared.113

Fred T. Dubois, later a United States senator, and son
of Jesse K. Dubois, one of Lincoln's close friends in Spring-
field who served as a pallbearer at his funeral, gives this
picture, which is not unlike that given by Mrs. Dallman.

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 149

He writes: "My own remembrance of both Mr. and Mrs.
Lincoln are pleasant ones. I never knew her to be impa-
tient with us boys, and we were at their house a great deal
and no doubt deserved many scoldings. Instead of being
harsh with us when we were too boisterous in her house
or in her yard she would give us 'cookies' and other good
things to eat and in other ways was motherly and kindly,
and always had the regard of the boys, although not to
the extent that her husband had. Their attitude toward
us was of a different kind and our regard for them was of
a different degree, but every boy in our neighborhood
shared in this regard for both of them." 114

I hope that I have succeeded in giving a picture of
Mary Todd Lincoln in Springfield that is different from
the one usually presented. As Mr. Ritze says, "Mrs. Lin-
coln was not an angel. Neither was she a demon. She was
not a she-wolf because Herndon so called her. Nor was
Lincoln a gorilla because Stanton applied that name." 115
When she married it was necessary for her to adjust her-
self to a manner of living that was entirely foreign to her
and for which she was ill prepared. This was not easy. It
took time. Her husband had habits and strange moods that
must have made a very difficult adjustment for a highly
strung, sensitive woman. We have a letter written by
Mary Owens in which she says that one reason she did not
accept Lincoln's repeated proposals of marriage was be-
cause she felt that he was "deficient in those little links
which make up the path of a woman's happiness." 116
Herndon, the hero worshiper, tells us that his hero was
"abstracted, and for that reason at times was somewhat un-
social, reticent and uncommunicative. . . . Lincoln had
none of the tender ways that please a woman and he could

150 Legends That Libel Lincoln

not, it seemed, by any positive act of his own make her
happy. If his wife was happy, she was naturally happy, or
made herself so in spite of countless drawbacks. He was,
however, a good husband in his own peculiar way, and in
his own way only." 117

Mary Lincoln undertook the task of altering some of
her husband's habits that had become set throughout
thirty-four years. "No doubt," as Mr. Ritze has expressed
it, "she did reprove him for many things. And if what
Herndon and Whitney say is true, she had much provoca-
tion. But her reproofs were not all nagging. Many of them
were constructive although seldom has she been given
credit. Love is not manifested only by submission. Like
every woman interested in her husband, it is but natural
she would want him to improve himself. Certainly she
did not want successful men of the world to underrate
him as did Stanton and Harding at the trial of the Mc-
Cormick Reaper case, who, although associate counsel,
would not sit down at the same table and eat with
him." 118 Undoubtedly she tried his patience on many occa-
sions and wounded his feelings too often, but, according
to Sandburg, "Sentences of letters she wrote show that she
felt guilty and ashamed over her outbreaks of hysteria;
she wished they had never happened, felt deeply that she
had made a fool of herself." 119

Whatever her efforts to polish her rough diamond of
a husband, whatever distress and unhappiness she may
have caused him at times, Mary Todd Lincoln was not
"nagging him into greatness." She was standing by his side,
shoulder to shoulder, helping him in every way within her
power, sharing his disappointments, showing her faith by
encouraging him to strive for new and higher goals. It was

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her Springfield Years 151

she who made the final decision against accepting the office
of territorial governor of Oregon, which many friends
urged him to accept, at a time when Lincoln was much
discouraged over his political future and told Herndon
that "he wanted to try a change of locality." 120 Better
things, she was sure, awaited him in Springfield. She en-
couraged him to join the Republican party when it was
formed, although she knew that this might mean political
suicide. She urged him to undertake the debates with
Douglas, knowing that this meant heavy expenses and a
loss of income which would mean more careful manage-
ment on her part, more careful counting of pennies. After
these debates Lincoln wrote to Norman B. Judd: "I have
been on expenses so long without earning anything that
I am absolutely without money now for even household
purposes." 121

Mary Lincoln remained at home to do the managing,
to take care of the boys, faithfully performing her part of
the partnership. Mr. Rankin tells us: "Only a limited few
knew the intense spirit of her who remained behind at the
home to inspire his going forth, to welcome his return, to
rejoice at any good news, to stimulate him to renew the
struggle when disappointments had to be met." 122 And
Ritze writes: "When he was defeated for the Senate by
Douglas, and others said, 'Old Abe is through,' she de-
fiantly reared her head and said he would be President.
. . . Such was the unfaltering faith and the indomitable
spirit of this woman, who stood by her husband when
clouds were black and storms were breaking, and when
fair-weather friends deserted him." 123 As Carl Sandburg
says: "Mary Todd had married a genius who made de-
mands; when he wanted to work, to isolate himself with

152 Legends That Libel Lincoln

every brain cell operating, he demanded to be let alone;
it was no time for interruptions or errands. It was for this
brooding man she was wife, housekeeper, and counselor
in personal and political affairs in so far as he per-
mitted." 124 In short, she was his partner, his helpmate.

That Mary Todd Lincoln well performed her half of
the partnership, that her husband looked upon her as a
true and loyal helpmate, is shown by his action upon re-
ceiving the news of his nomination for the Presidency. On
the street in Springfield he was quickly surrounded by
admirers eager to congratulate him and shake his hand.
It would have been a very natural and human thing for
him to have lingered and to have held, then and there, an
impromptu reception. He had but one thought, however.
Quickly disengaging himself from his admirers, he said:
"There is a little woman over on Eighth Street that will be
glad to hear the news; if you will excuse me, I'll go and
tell her." 125 So he left the growing crowd to go to his
partner. With her he wished to share his triumph.

VI

Mary Todd Lincoln, Helpmate—
Her White House Years

With the nomination of her husband as the Repub-
lican candidate for president, Mary Todd Lincoln came
under the spotlight of publicity. Day in and day out for
five years she was to live in its constant glare. The coun-
try, particularly the eastern states, wanted to know what
manner of man it was who had wrested the nomination
from such outstanding leaders as Seward and Chase. It
had followed the Lincoln-Douglas debates and other
speeches which Lincoln had delivered. It was familiar
with his political views, but it did not know the man him-
self. In the convention hall at Chicago, Lincoln had been
played up as a rail-splitter. In the minds of many people a
man of his humble beginnings could hardly help being
crude and unfitted in many ways that seemed important,
to fill the office of president. And if he was rough and
crude, could his wife be otherwise? Would a gentlewoman
marry a rail-splitter, even a glorified one?

People traveled to Springfield in order to satisfy their
curiosity and newspapers sent their correspondents for
the purpose of obtaining firsthand information for their
readers. Not only Lincoln the Republican candidate be-
came the center of attention, but Lincoln the man, the
house in which he lived, his wife and his family, became

i53

154 Legends That Libel Lincoln

the subjects of many columns of newspaper stories. First
to visit Springfield were members of the notification com-
mittee on the day following the nomination. Few of them
had ever seen Lincoln. To more than one his nomination
had been a great disappointment. There were many mis-
givings as to the manner of man chosen by the convention.
In telling of this Mr. Paul M. Angle remarks: ''Appar-
ently they had expected a sort of human monstrosity, for
one of them was heard to remark: 'I was afraid I should
meet a gigantic rail-splitter, with the manner of a flat-
boatman, and the ugliest face in creation; and he's a com-
plete gentleman.' " 1

During the campaign the reporters sent their stories
to their papers, giving their impressions of the Republican
candidate and trying to interpret him to their readers.
Hostile papers throughout the country dwelt on Lincoln's
obscurity. They call him a "third rate country lawyer,"
said that he "could not speak good grammar," and ex-
pressed their disapproval of his "coarse and clumsy
jokes." 2 Ida M. Tarbell writes that "the eagerness with
which the Republican press hastened to show that Lin-
coln was not the coarse backwoodsman the Democrats
painted him showed how much they winced under the
charges. Reporters were sent West to describe his home,
his family, and his habits, in order to prove that he did
not live in 'low Hoosier style.' They told with great satis-
faction that he wore daily a broadcloth suit 'almost ele-
gant,' they described his modest home as a 'mansion' and
an 'elegant two-story dwelling' and they never failed to
note that Mrs. Lincoln spoke French fluently and that he
had a son in Harvard College." 3

The campaign was bitterly fought. For several decades

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 155

sectional misunderstandings, prejudices and passions had
been growing in intensity. The campaign served to fan
the smoldering embers of hatred which soon were to burst
into the full flame of war. Distrust and antagonisms filled
the minds of people throughout the land. Inevitably per-
sonalities became involved, and distrust and hatred came
to be directed against individual leaders, particularly
against the Republican candidate for president.

Although elected, Abraham Lincoln did not receive a
majority of the popular vote. Many people in the North,
as well as in the South, regarded his election as a calamity.
In the southern states he was looked upon as a "Black
Republican," and as the leader of the hated and despised
abolitionists who would destroy slavery and ruin the
South. Hatred of the man spread to his wife wrho, a
Southerner, had married this "abolitionist" and had
turned traitor to her people. Despised in the South as an
abolitionist, Lincoln paradoxically was despised by the
abolitionists of the North. They wanted slavery destroyed.
He would not promise to do so. He firmly believed that
he had no right to interfere with slavery in the states in
which it wras already established. Consequently, the aboli-
tionists thought him to be a friend of slavery, and hated
him as such. Their animosity included his wife, because
she was a Southerner who, they believed, was influencing
her husband in favor of the South. Then there were many
in the North who felt that Lincoln was thoroughly unfit
for the task that lay before him. They looked upon him
merely as a slick politician, shrewd, clever perhaps, but to
them he had given no indication that he was a statesman.
Many people distrusted one so unknown and untried in
the office of president in a time of great crisis. And there

156 Legends That Libel Lincoln

were those whom John Hay later called the "patent-
leather, kid-glove set," who, in his opinion, were never
able to understand, let alone appreciate, the character of
the man. They judged by superficialities. To them Lin-
coln was not a gentleman; his clothes did not fit; he was
uncouth, a mere backwoodsman and rail splitter; he was
said to tell smutty stories; he was, they felt sure, rightly
called "The Illinois Gorilla." Social prejudices were to
join forces with political antagonisms and sectional pas-
sions. The combined force of these animosities was to grow
steadily greater, as the war became more bitterly fought,
and was to be felt day in and day out by both Abraham
and Mary Lincoln throughout their White House years.

Albert Shaw has described the situation following Lin-
coln's election in these words: "When . . . the campaign
was over and it was known that Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln
were to become occupants of the White House, curiosity
was freshly aroused as to these two people, recently ob-
scure but now prominent. Prejudice and slander now
found fresh opportunity. Some vestiges of those prevalent
misunderstandings have lingered in the popular mind for
more than half a century. . . . When Lincoln came to the
center of the stage, he encountered most extraordinary
misunderstandings of several different origins. He was
encompassed by invisible walls of prejudice and animosity.
These proved even harder to break down than the defenses
of Southern strongholds in the War. Andrew Jackson had
encountered prejudices of a similar kind, as he had come
to the Presidency . . . and it is only within recent years that
the persistent calumnies affecting the personal and domes-
tic affairs of Andrew Jackson have been cleared away by
impartial and thorough students. Abraham Lincoln was

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 157

tar more seriously the victim of Eastern prejudice than
Andrew Jackson had been." 4

The invisible walls of prejudice and animosity which
Mr. Shaw mentions slowly encompassed Mary Todd Lin-
coln as well as her husband. Throughout all the White
House years she was to find them growing stronger and
higher as war-bred passions grew and spread. Just as much
malicious gossip about Andrew Jackson and his wife was
born out of and was spread by political and sectional
animosities, so much, very much, gossip was created and
broadcast about Abraham and Mary Lincoln. The ugly
stories about Abraham Lincoln have not lived. Time and
the efforts of zealous students have dispelled them. As the
war hatreds have died out, it has become clear that the
stories were what they were — malicious gossip born of pas-
sion, and obviously foreign to the character of the man.
There has been, however, far less zeal on the part of stu-
dents to try to dispel the equally malicious gossip about
Mary Todd Lincoln. Only in recent years has much atten-
tion been given to this. It is not an easy task to separate
truth from falsehood at this late date, or to determine the
extent to which some stories may have been colored by ex-
aggeration. Unfortunately, many stories fit, to a greater or
lesser degree, certain known traits of her character. When
it is known, for example, that a person has a violent tem-
per which often gets the upper hand, it is easy to create
tales about her that will readily be accepted by others.
After a long lapse of time it is most difficult to disprove
many stories which may be entirely the creations of pre-
judiced imaginations. As, however, we read what was
said about Mrs. Lincoln during the White House years, in
newspapers of the day or in the statements of different

158 Legends That Libel Lincoln

people, and as we keep before us, while doing so, the in-
tensity of passions and prejudices that overspread the coun-
try, we can only feel that much of what we read was
colored by prejudice and hate, and that much was merely
malicious gossip.

Months before the Lincolns left Springfield they were
to feel the fires of hatred that were burning in the minds
of many people. Their mail brought them letters reviling
Lincoln and calling him every imaginable name. Ape, ba-
boon, monster, mulatto, idiot — these were only a few of
the invectives used. There were threats of violence, a con-
stant stream of them, directed at him and at his wife. He
would never be allowed to be sworn in as president; he
would be flogged, tortured, burned, or hanged. Pictures
of daggers dripping with blood came to them, along with
pictures of gallows, some showing him as the victim being
hanged. Henry Villard, a correspondent for the New York
Herald, who spent some months in Springfield between
the time of Lincoln's election and his departure for Wash-
ington, wrote under date of January 20, 1861: "I have just
learned that about two weeks ago a scandalous painting on
canvas was received by Mrs. Lincoln, expressed from South
Carolina. It represented Mr. Lincoln with a rope around
his neck, his feet chained and his body adorned with tar
and feathers." 5

Beginning in Springfield, and continuously for four
years, Mary Todd Lincoln was to live under the constant
fear of a violent death for her husband. Nerves of steel, a
serenity of spirit, and a mind so constituted that it could
calmly and determinedly ignore and forget were necessary
if one was to stand up under the constant beat of such
threats. Abraham Lincoln possessed these qualities. Mary

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 159

Lincoln did not. The steady pounding of the force of fear
wore upon her mind and nerves like water eroding a hill-
side, until finally, one night four years later, she was to sit
beside her husband and experience the fullest realization
of her fears. It is difficult to tell just what was the effect
of this cumulative dread upon her throughout her White
House years, how much it may have been responsible for
some of her regrettable actions. The fact that after her hus-
band's assassination she did break, that she was later ad-
judged insane, gives weight to the belief that her constant
fear of violence was an important disintegrating influence
on her mind and nerves. It must not be forgotten as we
study her White House years.

The months in Springfield following Lincoln's nomi-
nation and election were trying ones for Mary Todd Lin-
coln, as well as for her husband. Both were under the
closest scrutiny of those who were trying to size them up.
All who came to Springfield had a certain degree of curi-
osity as to what manner of people the Lincolns were. Some
were skeptical, and some, no doubt, were hostile. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were compelled to face many braz-
enly staring eyes, and Mary was to hear the question au-
dibly asked, "Is that the old woman?" She seems to have
stood the ordeal well, and to have made a generally favor-
able impression on those who saw her for the first time, as
well as on those who already knew her. On July 25, i860,
Carl Schurz wrote to his wife, from Springfield: "In the
evening I was at Lincoln's for supper. His lady had decked
herself out very prettily and already knows very well how
to wave a fan. She chats quite nicely and will be able to
adapt herself to the White House without difficulty. . . .
He gave me a copy of his debates with Douglas, and he

160 Legends That Libel Lincoln

and his wife urged me to bring my lady along on the
occasion of my next visit and to be sure and stop with
them." 6 Mrs. W. H. Bailhache, wife of one of the editors
of the Illinois State Journal, wrote to her mother on
November 12, i860: "I spent an evening at Mr. Lincoln's
a few evenings since and had a very pleasant time. Mr. L.
has not altered one bit. He amused us nearly all evening
telling funny stories and cracking jokes. I could hardly
realize that I was sitting in the august presence of a real
live President. Mrs. Lincoln is just as agreeable as ever,
does not put on any airs at all but is pleasant and talkative
and entertaining as she can be." 7 A glimpse of Lincoln
and his family is given by Henry Villard, who wrote to his
newspaper on January 26, 1861: "The President-elect was
delighted last evening by the arrival on the Eastern train
of Mrs. Lincoln and his oldest son, the Harvard student.
He had been awaiting their return for the last three days.
Dutiful husband and father that he is, he had proceeded
to the railroad depot for three successive nights in his
anxiety to receive them, and that in spite of snow and
cold." 8 To the word "dutiful" I should add "devoted."

We are given a charming glimpse of Mr. and Mrs.
Lincoln on the train while en route to Washington, just
as their train arrived at New York City. This little picture
is given by a correspondent of the New York Herald, a
paper quite hostile to Lincoln at that time. Only after
the fall of Fort Sumter, and after it had narrowly escaped
being mobbed by angry Unionists, did the Herald reverse
its position and support the administration. This causes
one to feel that its correspondent's impression of the Presi-
dent-elect and his wife was an honest one, and that his pic-
ture is a true one. He writes: "The train stopped; through

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 161

the windows immense crowds could be seen; the cheering
drowned the blowing off steam of the locomotive. Then
Mrs. Lincoln opened her hand bag and said:

" 'Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city
folks.'

"Mr. Lincoln gently lifted her upon the seat before
him; she parted and combed and brushed his hair and
arranged his black necktie.

1 'Do I look nice now, mother?' he affectionately
asked.

' 'Well, you'll do, Abraham,' replied Mrs. Lincoln
critically. So he kissed her and lifted her down from the
seat, and turned to meet Mayor Wood, courtly and suave,
and to have his hand shaken by the other New York
officials." 9

On the whole, the newspaper reports of Mary Todd
Lincoln that were sent out from Springfield were friendly
to her. Nevertheless, it would seem that some unfriendly
stories had gone east ahead of her, for even before she
reached Washington she was to meet with prejudice al-
ready formed and awaiting her. In New York a reception
was held for her at the Hotel Astor. In the published list
of guests appeared the name of Mrs. August Belmont. A
few days later the following item appeared in various New
York papers and in Leslie's Weekly: "We are requested to
state that Mrs. August Belmont did not call upon Mrs.
Lincoln during her stay at the Astor House." 10 Upon her
arrival in the capital, the Washington Evening Star made
this comment: "The peep afforded at Mrs. Lincoln in
passing from the carriage to the hotel presented a comely,
matronly, ladylike face, bearing an unmistakable air of
goodness, strikingly the opposite of the ill-natured por-

162 Legends That Libel Lincoln

traits of her by the pens of some of the sensation
writers." X1 William H. Russell, correspondent of the Lon-
don Times, likewise mentions gossip that had been cir-
culating in Washington before Mrs. Lincoln's arrival, and
which had given him an unfavorable impression that was
dispelled when he first met her. He writes: "Mrs. Lincoln
struck me as being desirous of making herself agreeable;
and I own that I was agreeably disappointed, as the Seces-
sionist ladies at Washington had been amusing themselves
by anecdotes which could scarcely have been founded on
fact." 12 Senator Harlan, of Iowa, met Mr. and Mrs. Lin-
coln for the first time a few days before Lincoln's inaugura-
tion. He recorded his first impression of Mrs. Lincoln in
these words: "She was fair, of about medium height, but
standing near her husband, by comparison seemed short.
Her quiet, gentle manners and fine womanly bearing im-
pressed every one with the conviction that she was a well-
educated, cultured lady, accustomed to the usages of so-
ciety and with ability to take care of herself." 13

Society in Washington was not willing to accept Mrs.
Lincoln. For years it had been dominated by Southerners,
who hated and despised Lincoln and anyone connected
with him. The simplest way for the women of Washing-
ton to strike at the president was through his wife, and
from the start, it would seem, they were determined to
destroy her socially. Many refused to attend the Inaugural
Ball or the President's first reception, which followed a
few days later. Others went in order to scoff and to pick
up stories or ideas for stories that could be passed on to
eagerly awaiting ears. Washington society felt that it had
a golden opportunity for a field day. Young Charles
Francis Adams noted this in his diary, in which he wrote

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 163

as follows about a reception at the home of Mrs. Eames:
"If the President caught it at dinner, his wife caught it at
the reception. All manner of stories about her were flying
around; she wanted to do the right thing, but, not know-
ing how, was too weak and proud to ask; she was going to
put the White House on an economical basis, and, to that
end, was about to dismiss the 'help,' as she called the
servants; some of whom, it was asserted, had already left
because 'they must live with gentlefolks'; she had got hold
of newspaper reporters and railroad conductors, as the
best persons to go to for advice and direction. Numberless
stories of this sort were current; and, while Mrs. Lincoln
was in a stew, it was obvious that her friends, the Illi-
noisans, were in a rumpus. Much fun is brewing in Wash-
ington." 14 Once more Russell mentions the telling of tales
in his diary: "The ladies in Washington delight to hear or
to invent small scandals connected with the White
House. ..." Then, after telling one or two stories he had
heard, he adds: "But many more better tales than these go
round, and it is not surprising if a woman is now and then
put under close arrest, or sent off to Fort McHenry for
too much esprit and inventiveness." 15

Such was the attitude of Washington society toward
Mrs. Lincoln when she first arrived at the White House,
an attitude which, if anything, grew more bitter as war
passions became more intense. In a study entitled Mrs.
Lincoln as a White House Hostess, Virginia Kinnaird
writes: "Regardless of how zealous the efforts of Mrs. Lin-
coln might be or how well-fitted she ™as, her task from the
outset was most disheartening. The Washington aristoc-
racy condemned without waiting for proof and Mrs. Lin-
coln became the target for criticism." 16 Another comment

164 Legends That Libel Lincoln

of the spirit of Washington society is this: "Every ingenu-
ity of malice was resorted to to discredit the new regime.
Both the President and his wife were mercilessly lam-
pooned, and yet Mrs. Lincoln was the peer of any woman
in Washington in education and character, as well as the
'barren ideality' of birth." 17 Some years later, on the floor
of the Senate, Senator Cameron described the treatment
accorded the Lincoln family by Washington society in
these words: "When Mr. Lincoln and his family came
here, the society of Washington was very adverse to him
or to any other Republican family who might come here
and they were in great measure ostracized. The ladies and
even the gentlemen, the gossips of the town, did all they
could to try to make a bad reputation for Mrs. Lincoln
and tried to do so for the President. His career was so ex-
traordinary, he was such an extraordinary man that they
could not destroy him, but they did carry their venom so
far as to destroy the social position of his wife." 18

Under any circumstances the position of the presi-
dent's wife is a difficult one. She lives under a spotlight,
and every move is observed by the public. Russell speaks
of this in connection with Mrs. Lincoln: "Few women not
to the manner born there are, whose heads would not be
disordered and circulation disturbed, by a rapid transi-
tion, almost instantaneous, from a condition of obscurity
in a country town to be mistress of the White House. Her
smiles and her frowns become a matter of consequence to
the whole American world. As the wife of the country law-
yer, or even of the congressman, her movements were of no
consequence. The journals of Springfield would not have
wasted a line on them. Now, if she but drives down Penn-
sylvania Avenue, the electric wire thrills the news to every

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 165

hamlet in the Union which has a newspaper; and for-
tunate is the correspondent who, in a special despatch, can
give authentic particulars of her destination and of her
dress." 19 No doubt Mrs. Lincoln committed blunders
which made enemies and brought ridicule and criticism
from those who were eagerly on the lookout for her mis-
steps. So, no doubt, other White House mistresses have
made mistakes and so, doubtless, future mistresses will,
when called upon to fulfill the exacting duties of First
Lady of the Land. Russell wrote: ''The lady is surrounded
by flatterers and intriguers, seeking for influence or such
places as she can give." 20 Henry Villard asserted that Mrs.
Lincoln "allowed herself to be approached and continu-
ously surrounded by a common set of men and women
whose bare-faced flattery easily gained controlling influ-
ence over her." 21 He mentions one man in particular,
who, it seems, was a paid social spy and informer of the
New York Herald. More than one person tells us of social
spies planted in the White House by that paper. Carl Sand-
burg writes: "Jenkins also was in the White House. Jen-
kins being slang for the peeper and tattler seeking reports
and gossip, then writing luridly for the newspapers such
as the New York Herald. He would sleep in a guest bed,
eat wTith the President's family, and send to the newspapers
as much as he dared that would not reveal his identity.
Male and female Jenkinses had made use of dining room
hints and kitchen gossip. When the stay of one or another
came to a sudden end because a leak had been traced, the
White House could not give to the public the meaner de-
tails of the story." 22 Sandburg also tells how "Bennett of
the New York Herald hired writers with gifts of satire and
persiflage. They took facts and ran away with them. The

166 Legends That Libel Lincoln

fun got mixed with malice and readers could not always
be sure where history ended and horseplay began." 23

In these days of organized publicity bureaus we hear
of smear campaigns against an officeholder or a candidate
for office. Probably there was no organized campaign
against Mrs. Lincoln, but certainly a smear campaign was
carried on by pen and tongue. Every move she made was
telegraphed over the country. Thus, in the summer of
1861, when she visited the ocean resort at Long Branch,
New Jersey, in order to escape the heat of Washington, she
was followed by reporters. "There," according to Mr.
Sandburg, "she conducted herself quietly, trying to rest,
keeping away from the social whirl. The New York
Herald, however, had sent a clever special writer to the
scene; he scribbled columns of gush as though the Presi-
dent's wife were an American Queen, maintaining a royal
seclusion, wearing a haughty manner. The keen thrusts
and malicious manipulations of this writer were reprinted
in newspapers fighting the administration. The ridicule
went beyond her and struck at her husband in the White
House." 24 This same reporter described a reception given
for Mrs. Lincoln by telling his readers that "the scene sug-
gested a court" and that Mrs. Lincoln "looked like a
queen." He wrote of "this blaze of jewels, this soft rustling
of silks, this cloud of rich and elegant laces." 25 Such ex-
travagant and exaggerated descriptions did not help Mrs.
Lincoln win admirers among people in rural communities.
Nor did they please those who were making sacrifices to
further the Union cause in the war. Yet, while stories of
this kind were appearing in its news columns, the New
York Herald, on its editorial page, made this startlingly
different comment about Mrs. Lincoln's behavior at Long

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 167

Branch: "Like a sensible, unpretending woman as she is,
she kept to her apartments for some days, thinking that,
the first impulse of curiosity past, the crowd of fashionable
idlers assembled there would cease to occupy themselves
with her movements. Vain expectations." 26 The New
York Herald did much to arouse disfavor and even con-
tempt for Mrs. Lincoln. It ran a daily column under the
heading "Movements of Mrs. Lincoln" 27 in which it re-
corded her activities, some real and some imaginary. Mar-
garet Leech, in her book Reveille in Washington, properly
calls it "the back-stabbing friend of the President's wife."
She relates how, on one occasion, the Herald ostensibly
came to Mrs. Lincoln's defense over a large reception
which had aroused much criticism because it was not open
to the public, but was limited by invitation. In those days,
apparently, everyone felt that he had a right to enter the
White House whenever he pleased. The Herald's defense
was that Mrs. Lincoln was "trying to weed the Presid-
dential mansion" of "the long-haired, white-coated, to-
bacco-chewing and expectorant abolitionist" politicians.
"Mrs. Lincoln," it continued, "is responsible to Congress
for the Presidential spoons, and it is not safe to trust an
ice cream thus manipulated in the itching fingers of these
sweet smelling patriots." 28 Thus many new enemies were
created for Mary Todd Lincoln.

Almost every time Mrs. Lincoln left Washington, the
papers reported that she was on a shopping trip. She made
many visits to New York and to Philadelphia for that pur-
pose, and she made many, far too many, extravagant pur-
chases that were to bring her some of the greatest trials in
later years. That the number of her shopping trips was
exaggerated, however, to say nothing of the extent of her

168 Legends That Libel Lincoln

purchases, is indicated by the account of one trip given by
her cousin Elizabeth Todd Grimsley, who accompanied
her. Mrs. Grimsley writes: "The reporters did not hear of
us until after we had left the city, but what was our amaze-
ment upon taking up the New York papers, after our re-
turn home, to find we had been on an extended shop-
ping trip . . . that Mrs. Lincoln had bought, among other
things, a three thousand dollar point lace shawl, and Mrs.
Grimsley had also indulged, to the extent of one thou-
sand, in a like purchase (and par parenthesis, this was the
nearest I ever came to having one), whereas we had not
even driven by the stores." 29 But stories of extravagant
purchases, added to such descriptions as were sent out
from Long Branch, helped to create a picture of a vain,
frivolous, selfish woman.

For a time Mrs. Lincoln tried to realize her social
ambitions, but the cards were stacked against her. Not
only was Washington society hostile and apparently de-
termined to destroy her socially, but, as the war spirit
grew more intense, criticism arose throughout the country
against what was regarded as the extravagance and frivolity
of large entertainments. "To entertain or not to entertain
was the problem," as expressed by one writer. "Some
thought Mrs. Lincoln had no right to change the customs
of the White House [she had substituted large formal re-
ceptions for state dinners] while some thought she ought
to close it to every species of festivity or social observ-
ance."30 William E. Barton writes: "If she gave a reception
she was criticized for displaying joy at a time when the
nation was suffering defeat upon the battlefield and sorrow
in its home. But if she did not permit some festivity in the
White House, as for some time after the death of Willie

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 169

she did not, this, too, was charged up against her as adding
a needless element of gloom to a situation already depress-
ing." 31

After little Willie Lincoln's death in February, 1862,
however, large formal entertainments were discontinued
for a period of almost two years. It is well that they were,
for a large reception held but a short time before, which
was heralded in the papers as a "ball," had brought forth
a storm of disapproval and criticism, particularly from
the abolitionists, who felt that such frivolity was unsuited
to a time when the sons of the North were dying on the
battlefield. "Are the President and Mrs. Lincoln aware
that there is a civil war?" wrote Senator Wade. "If they
are not, Mr. and Mrs. Wade are, and for that reason de-
cline to participate in feasting and dancing." 32 This atti-
tude appears to have been rather widespread. It is even
more strongly expressed in a letter addressed to Mrs. Lin-
coln and given to the New York Express for publication.
It was reprinted in many hostile papers and read, in part:
"We are tempted to ask from you abandonment for the
time of the frivolous, childish chatter that falls upon all
earnest people. Shall the inanities of a ball room and
theater be now the order of your life, when there is
scarcely a family in our midst but immediately or remotely
is suffering the cruel pangs of mortal bereavement? . . .
Are there no duties pressing upon you which should cover
you with the mantle of humiliation?" 33

The customary weekly informal receptions of the
President and his wife seem to have continued, however,
and were open to all who wished to come. These helped
to give President Lincoln contact with all classes of people
from all parts of the North, which meant so much to him

170 Legends That Libel Lincoln

and which he found so helpful in enabling him to feel the
pulse of public opinion. Many went home from those re-
ceptions carrying reports of his kindliness, reports that
were to win friends for him and make him beloved
throughout the land. Many, too, carried away reports of
Mrs. Lincoln's cordial manner, and many had their pre-
conceived ideas of her radically changed. One of these, an
ardent abolitionist war nurse, Jane Swisshelm, found that
her strong prejudice was so unfounded that she wrote an
enthusiastic description of Mrs. Lincoln: "Her complex-
ion is fair as that of a young girl, her cheeks soft, plump
and blooming, and her expression tender and kindly. . . .
She stood receiving her guests with quite as much grace
and more dignity than I had seen in the celebrated Betty
Bliss when in the same position." 34 This was too much
for one newspaper, however, which reminded its readers
that Mrs. Swisshelm held a government office.35

Many people seem to have gone to the receptions in
order to find something to criticize, some tasty morsel of
gossip they could carry home. Let us see what one of Lin-
coln's secretaries has to say about this — William O. Stod-
dard, who acted as private secretary to Mrs. Lincoln. He
writes: Every woman who has yet arrived has come as a
critic, and not one of them will be capable of doing kindly
justice; and they will be authorities, hereafter, swelling a
miserable tide of misunderstanding. . . . On the whole,
these women, queens of society in their own parishes,
should have perceptive faculties capable of telling them,
and others through them, that Mrs. Lincoln ... is doing
the honors of the White House remarkably well. Not one
woman in a hundred would do any better; but these
woman . . . consider themselves, not as one in a hundred,

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 171

but each as one in a thousand, with nine hundred and
ninety-nine ranged below her. So they will show no
mercy." 36 Many visitors to the White House wrote of
their impressions in letters to others or passed on some
choice bit of gossip they had picked up. Thus Elizabeth
Cady Stanton wrote this, after a visit in 1863: "They say
Abraham's shrivelled appearance Sc poor health is owing
to being underfed. Madame is an economist & the supplies
at the White House are limited." 37 George Bancroft, the
historian, passed on a delicate bit of scandal by writing
that Mrs. Lincoln "wished a rogue who had cheated the
government made a lieutenant; the Cabinet thrice put the
subject aside. One morning in came Lincoln sad and sor-
rowful: 'Ah', said he, 'today we must settle the case of

Lieutenant . Mrs. Lincoln has for three nights slept

in a separate apartment.' " 38 In commenting on this, Carl
Sandburg says: "The sober and meticulous Bancroft
would also have written his wife, had he stayed longer and
talked with Cabinet members, that there was no known
instance of the President in his intercourse with Cabinet
members making any slighting references to Mrs. Lincoln
or saying anything that touched the dignity of her posi-
tion." 39 People who are willing to believe and to spread
such vulgar stories, however, do not wish for verification.
Failure to find it might rob them of a juicy bit of gossip.

If tales like these came from such men and women as
George Bancroft and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it is not
surprising to find Murat Halsted, editor of the Cincinnati
Commercial, writing as follows, after an unsuccessful effort
to obtain an office for a friend: "I use the mildest phrase
when I say Lincoln is a weak, a miserably weak man; the
wite is a fool — the laughing stock of the town, her vul-

172 Legends That Libel Lincoln

garity only the more conspicuous in consequence of her
fine carriage and horses and servants in livery and fine
dresses and her damnable airs." 40 How many others, I
wonder, attacked Mrs. Lincoln because of their disappoint-
ment and anger in failing to secure some coveted office
or other favor from her husband? I wonder, also, whether
some of the stories about her activities regarding appoint-
ments may not be traced to disappointed office seekers. For
she was accused of meddling with political appointments
and has been much criticized on that account.

Dr. Evans writes: "Mrs. Lincoln was also a politician
of no mean ability and with much desire to indulge. In-
dulge she did . . . Her mind was so constituted that she
could not play politics with detachment. She thought of
politics in terms of offices to be filled." 41 She wrote many
letters regarding offices. Some were merely letters of recom-
mendation, such as anyone might write; others, however,
asked for certain appointments as a personal favor to her.
Some of her letters, in Dr. Evans's opinion, show a "ten-
dency to punish or reward for old political scores." 42

It is not easy to form an accurate opinion regarding
the extent of Mrs. Lincoln's meddling with political ap-
pointments or as to the effectiveness of her activities in
this connection. In one place Carl Sandburg writes: "She
intervened constantly in the matter of offices — for post-
masterships, West Point cadetships — even the reorganiza-
tion of the Cabinet." 43 In another statement he seems to
modify this by telling us: "A reputation for busyness in
appointments often brought her name into affairs where
she may or may not have been busy." 44 Gamaliel Brad-
ford writes, in this connection: "It is only just to say that
I have not found one single case of her attempting to exert

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 173

influence for the benefit of her friends or family, no solicit-
ing of offices or commissions where they were not de-
served." 45 We know, however, that relatives of hers did
receive appointments, most of which seem to have been to
more or less minor offices. In considering this it is only
fair, I think, to remember that political offices were widely
regarded as the just spoils of political warfare throughout
the period under consideration and for long years there-
after. President Lincoln was subjected to terrific pressure
from a hungry mob of office seekers. Every imaginable ap-
proach to him was tried. The White House was invaded
and many sought to reach Lincoln through his wife and
even his small boys. Among those who pressed him for
jobs were relatives of himself and of his wife. It may be
no excuse to say that "everybody was doing it," but in
seeking to determine the right or wrong of one person's
intervening in the matter of appointments under such con-
ditions, we should, in justice, give due consideration to
the then-prevailing attitude toward political offices.

The extent of Mrs. Lincoln's influence in the matter
of Cabinet appointments also is hard to appraise. In his
diary Gideon Welles gives her credit for excluding Nor-
man B. Judd from the Cabinet as first formed by President
Lincoln.46 Yet, in the very thorough study of the forma-
tion of his Cabinet by Lincoln which William E. Baringer
gives in his A House Dividing, we fail to find her name
mentioned in this connection. Dr. J. G. Randall also has
made a painstaking study of the formation of Lincoln's
first Cabinet, and writes: "It appears that Mrs. Lincoln
intervened against Judd, but this is not to say that petti-
coat influence was actually the factor that controlled Lin-
coln's decision." 47 Mr. Sandburg tells us that Mrs. Lin-

174 Legends That Libel Lincoln

coin was accused of writing letters to Charles Sumner ask-
ing him to use his influence to prevent the appointment of
General Banks to the Cabinet. He labels this as "near fan-
tasy." 48 Edward G. Bates, attorney general in the Lincoln
Cabinet, wrote in his diary of an intrigue against Secretary
Seward and said that he had been informed that Mrs. Lin-
coln had been won over by the intriguers. "But," he wrote,
"I have not seen any action of hers in consequence." 49

In support of the charge that she meddled with Cabi-
net appointments, a letter which she wrote in the fall of
1862 to James Gordon Bennett is frequently quoted. It is
apparent that this indiscreet letter was written in answer
to one which she had received from Bennett. In her letter
she mentions another which she had received from Gov-
ernor Sprague who, she tells Bennett, was "quite as earnest
as you have been on the subject." 50 Important men, it
would seem, were appealing to her to use her influence.
How much she may have yielded to their importunities it
is not easy to determine. She may have felt that certain
Cabinet changes were desirable, and she may have urged
them. Whether she really had much influence in such im-
portant matters is, I think, doubtful. Her husband lis-
tened to others, but he decided things for himself, for no
one understood the political angle to various problems as
well as he did. A student of the Cabinet changes that
President Lincoln made fails to trace Mrs. Lincoln's in-
fluence and finds that the president had his own very
definite reasons for such changes as he made.

Doubtless Mrs. Lincoln helped to create some of the
stories of meddling with things that did not concern her
by her unfortunate tendency to "talk out of turn." "In
the Washington period," according to Dr. Evans, "she

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 175

showed an increased habit of making direct, sharp, per-
sonal references to politicians and others whom she did
not like or distrusted." 51 This may have been due to the
progressive deterioration of her personality that was taking
place throughout her White House years as the result of
the many pressures to which she was subjected. It may
have been partially due to her desire "to protect her hus-
band from those who, she thought, intended to use him,"
which led her to use her influence "against those who had
injured him or tried to do so." 52 Whatever the reason, she
was not discreet either in many remarks she made or in
selecting those to whom she made them. That, in private
conversations with her husband, she often discussed ap-
pointments and severely criticized some he had made or
was contemplating, we learn from Elizabeth Keckley, a
Negro seamstress who did much work for Mrs. Lincoln
and became her friend and confidante. Her work kept her
in the White House a great deal and frequently she served
as personal maid to Mrs. Lincoln. She had many oppor-
tunities for observing Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln separately
and together and put her observations into a book which
is often referred to by students. In this book we read of
conversations with her husband in which Mrs. Lincoln
expressed her dislike of certain government officials and
army officers in no uncertain terms. Some writers cite these
private conversations as evidencing Mrs. Lincoln's habit
of meddling with her husband's affairs. I imagine, how-
ever, that similar conversations have been held by almost
every president with his wife. It is only natural that a
husband should think out and discuss his problems with
his wife, particularly when he values her judgment as Lin-
coln did that of Mrs. Lincoln. In this respect William H.

176 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Herndon pays her one of his few compliments: "She was
gifted with a rare insight into the motives that actuate
mankind, and there is no doubt that much of Lincoln's
success was in a measure attributable to her acuteness and
the stimulus of her influence." 53 There was at least one
time when President Lincoln felt that his wife's influence
could be definitely helpful to him and used it. That was
when he was planning his campaign to push his program
of reconstruction through a Congress that was hostile to
his ideas. Then he enlisted his wife's help in his efforts to
win over Charles Sumner to the support of his program.
"Sumner must be captured," writes one commentator; "in
him lay Lincoln's hope for the Senate. Sumner was as-
signed to Mrs. Lincoln." 54 Sumner was invited to be her
escort to the Inaugural Ball in 1865, and a short time later
she asked him to accompany her to City Point where Lin-
coln already was and where he hoped to have an oppor-
tunity for a quiet, intimate talk with Sumner.

It is not difficult to imagine that Mrs. Lincoln tried
to use her influence on various occasions in a desire to
further the interests of her husband, just as other presi-
dents' wives have done. She may, perhaps, be criticized
for the manner in which she carried out her efforts, for
she probably lacked the skill and finesse of the charming
Dolly Madison to whose influence, some say, her husband
owed his nomination for a second term. But her desire to
help her husband cannot, I think, be severely criticized. It
was very human.

As the war progressed and feelings became more in-
tense and bitter, papers in both the North and the South
made much of the fact that many relatives of Mrs. Lin-
coln's were fighting in the Confederate armies. That she

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 177

had a large number of relatives in the Union armies was
not generally known and was not told by the newspapers.
"Eleven second cousins of Mrs. Lincoln are members of
the Carolina Light Dragoons of the Confederate forces"
a newspaper item would read. Another would tell that
"The Rebel Officer who called the roll of our prisoners at
Houston is Lieutenant Todd, a brother of the wife of
President Lincoln. He is tall, fat, and savage against the
Yankees." 55 When this brother was later killed in battle,
the news was telegraphed throughout the North and the
readers were reminded that he had once been in charge
of a Confederate prison, and were told: "His brutality and
cruelty were such, however, that Jefferson Davis finally re-
moved him from the post, and sent him to join his regi-
ment. Mrs. Lincoln's sisters are understood to sympathize
rather with the rebels than with the government." 56
Three of Mary Lincoln's brothers, or rather half brothers,
and the husband of one half sister were killed in action
while serving in the Confederate armies. Each death gave
hostile papers an opportunity to remind their readers that
the President's wife was a Southerner and came from a
family that was fighting to destroy the Union. Her situa-
tion has been described by one sympathetic writer in
these words: "The Northerners had no sympathy for a
Southern-born woman whose brothers were in the rebel
army. They watched her suspiciously for a sign of dis-
loyalty. She knew that a single tear shed for a dead enemy
would bring torrents of scorn and bitter abuse on both her
husband and herself. On the other hand, the Southerners
shouted that she was hard-hearted, callous, indifferent to
the sufferings of her own people; so flinty-hearted that she
showed no emotion, not even a trace of feeling at the loss

178 Legends That Libel Lincoln

of her own brothers and friends. Sneered at, hated, buf-
feted by both sides, could any position be more brimful
of anguish?" 57

Gradually, but steadily, as the result of newspaper
stories about her southern connections and her relatives in
the Confederate armies, rumors became more frequent
and more emphatic that she herself was a southern sym-
pathizer and an actual spy in the White House. These
rumors reached such proportions, and the belief that she
was guilty of treason became so widespread, that a secret
meeting of the Senatorial Committee on the Conduct of
the War was held to investigate the matter. Suddenly, and
without warning, President Lincoln was announced to the
sitting committee. One member has described the dra-
matic incident: "No one spoke, for no one knew what to
say. The President had not been asked to come before the
Committee, nor was it suspected that he had information
that we were to investigate the reports, which, if true,
fastened treason upon his family in the White House. At
last Lincoln spoke slowly, with infinite sorrow in his tone,
and he said: 'I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, appear of my own volition before this Committee
of the Senate to say that I, of my own knowledge, know
that it is untrue that any of my family hold treasonable
communication with the enemy.' Having said that, Lin-
coln went away as silently and solitary as he had come. We
sat for a moment speechless. Then by tacit agreement, no
word being spoken, the Committee dropped all considera-
tion of the rumors that the wife of the President was be-
traying the Union. . . . We were so greatly affected that
the Committee adjourned for the day." 58

The committee may have been willing to drop the

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 179

matter, but others were not, and the belief that Mary Lin-
coln was a southern spy in the White House remained
fixed in the minds of many people for many long years.
It was to be expressed on the floor of the Senate years
later in the bitter debate on the bill to provide a pension
for Mrs. Lincoln, that debate which brought out all the
ugly, malicious, and false charges that had been hurled
against her during the war, and which evidenced the
depths to which war-bred passions can drive sane men.

Mary Lincoln knew of these charges of disloyalty and
treason; she knew the many bitter things being said about
her. She knew, and they preyed on her mind. Her sister,
Emilie Todd Helm, who, at the invitation of President
Lincoln, visited the White House after her husband, a
Confederate general, had been killed at Chickamauga,
wrote in her diary of coming into a room one morning
and finding Mary reading the morning paper. She dropped
the paper on the floor and, holding out her arms to her
sister, cried: "Kiss me, Emilie, and tell me that you love
mel I seem to be the scapegoat for both North and
South!"59

Added to the incessant beat of hostile criticism on
Mary Todd Lincoln's nerves and mind was the effect of
the death of Willie Lincoln, in February, 1862. From all
reports he was a most lovable little boy, and his death was
a crushing blow to his father and mother. Mrs. Lincoln
was so prostrated that she could not attend the funeral
services. Her grief, burned deeply within her and showed
itself in strange ways. Elizabeth Keckley tells that Mrs.
Lincoln never again entered the room in which little
Willie died, that she refused to look at his picture, and
gave away his toys and belongings that might serve to keep

180 Legends That Libel Lincoln

the wound open. But the wound never closed. "Some-
times," Elizabeth Keckley writes, "when in her room, with
no one present but myself, the mere mention of Willie's
name would excite her emotion, and any trifling memento
that recalled him would move her to tears. . . . There was
something supernatural in her dread of these things, and
something that she could not explain." 60 She took up
spiritualism for a time and told members of her family
about visits that Willie paid to her in the night. Mrs.
Helm tells of this in her diary: "Sister Mary's eyes were
wide and shining and I had a feeling of awe as if I were in
the presence of the supernatural. It is unnatural and ab-
normal, it frightens me. . . . She is on a terrible strain and
her smiles seem forced." 61 Mrs. Helm also made a note in
her diary of a conversation about Mary which she had
with Lincoln and quotes him as saying: "I feel worried
about Mary, her nerves have gone to pieces; she cannot
hide from me that the strain she has been under has been
too much for her mental as well as her physical health.
What do you think?" To which Mrs. Helm replied: "She
seems very nervous and excitable and once or twice when
I came into the room suddenly the frightened look in her
eyes has appalled me." 62 This was late in 1863, Dr. Evans
regards the death of Willie as one of the great destructive
forces on Mary Todd Lincoln during her White House
years and finds that her mental and nervous disintegration
was more noticeable and rapid after that shock. But even
her grief offered her enemies an opportunity to criticize
her. The war, they argued, was bringing grief to many
homes, and Mrs. Lincoln was selfish in considering her
own personal sorrow in such a time.

Throughout all the White House years the threats of

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 181

violence against Lincoln continued. The constant anxiety
that pressed down upon Mary Lincoln and was shared by
those close to Lincoln was not lessened by his disregard
of danger. He objected to a cavalry escort on his afternoon
drives with his wife; he would walk over to the War De-
partment day or night by himself; frequently he rode or
drove alone to and from the summer residence at the
Soldiers' Home on the outskirts of Washington. On one
occasion, late at night, an attempt was made on his life
and a rifle bullet pierced his hat. His fatalistic attitude did
not give comfort to his wife or lighten the beat of fear
on her mind and nerves. This hammered incessantly upon
her and must shoulder its share of the responsibility for
her final break.

Then there was her great anxiety about her debts,
which pressed ever more heavily upon her as time went
on. With unlimited credit offered her by merchants in
New York and Philadelphia eager to have the patronage
of the president's wife, she lost her head and made extrava-
gant purchases. Worse, even, than her sad and foolish mis-
take in incurring the debts was the fact that her husband
knew nothing of them. She told Elizabeth Keckley about
them in the summer or fall of 1864, and from her we learn
how intensely Mary Lincoln was then suffering mentally
because of her wretched extravagance. Mrs. Keckley writes:
"Mrs. Lincoln sometimes feared that the politicians would
get hold of the particulars of her debts, and use them in
the Presidential campaign against her husband; and when
this thought occurred to her, she was almost crazy with
anxiety and fear." 63 Dr. Evans expresses the belief that
her financial worries had a decidedly harmful influence

182 Legends That Libel Lincoln

on her and points out that this anxiety was "piled on top"
of many other forces that were pressing down upon her. 64
Let us gather together these forces in order that we
may better appreciate the combined weight of their pres-
sure upon Mary Todd Lincoln. First, there was the anx-
iety caused by the war, shared to a greater or lesser degree
by everyone, but by none more than the president. She
daily saw the effect of this struggle upon her husband; she
was fully aware of the fierce criticism heaped upon him
by Congress, hostile newspapers, and individuals. Doubt-
less her intense loyalty to him and her alertness to all that
affected him caused her to be more sensitive to such
criticism than he was himself. There was the hostility of
Washington society, with its never-ending gossip and
sneering, its criticism of every move she made. In Dr.
Evans's opinion: "The drubbing Washington society gave
her — the social ostracism — was part of her great frustra-
tion— the greatest that had ever come to her." 65 There
was the great blow of little Willie's death, coming at a
time when her nervous system was already carrying a ter-
rific load. There were the several deaths of members of
her family, killed while fighting for the Confederacy, and
the forced repression of her emotions because each death
gave hostile newspapers an opportunity to remind their
readers that she came of a southern family. And coupled
with such reminders were the charges that she was a south-
ern spy in the White House. There was the constant fear
of death for her husband, with threat following threat,
over a period of years. There was the keen anxiety about
her debts, doubtless made more keen because she realized
that she alone was responsible for them. Is it to be won-
dered at that, when the cumulative effect of these com-

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 183

bined forces was augmented by die terrible shock of sit-
ting beside her husband as he was shot down, she, too,
was really destroyed? And it is surprising that but a few
weeks before that last blow her condition was such that
her husband would say that "she was not well at all"?
That remark was made at City Point, where Mr. and Mrs.
Lincoln had gone to visit General Grant, shortly before
the close of the war. Mrs. Lincoln, it seems, had given way
to some regrettable displays of temper and had created
some distressing scenes. The accounts are somewhat con-
flicting as to both the causes and the nature of the scenes,
but undoubtedly they occurred. One of those who felt the
lash of her tongue was Captain Barnes, commander of one
of the ships that had carried the presidential party to City
Point. In commenting on the incident later, Captain
Barnes said that he thought Mrs. Lincoln was not herself,
and wrote: "I had the greatest sympathy for her and for
Mr. Lincoln, who I am sure felt deep anxiety for her. His
manner towards her was always that of the most affection-
ate solicitude, so marked, so gentle and unaffected that no
one could see it without being impressed by it. She was
at no time well; the mental strain upon her was great, be-
trayed by extreme nervousness approaching hysteria,
causing misapprehensions, extreme sensitiveness as to
slights or want of politeness or consideration." 66 It was
when Captain Barnes inquired of Lincoln as to Mrs. Lin-
coln's health that the President made the comment about
her not being well, and added that he feared that what
she had gone through was too much for her or for any
other woman. Undoubtedly those forces which had been
pressing down upon Mary Todd Lincoln contributed
greatly to the regrettable incidents at City Point.

184 Legends That Libel Lincoln

When reading discussions of the unhappy scenes at
City Point, my interest has been aroused by what appears
to be the principal source of information regarding them.
This source evidences, I think, a tendency on the part of
many writers to go out of their way to attack Mrs. Lincoln.
It is not found in a book about Mrs. Lincoln nor in one
dealing with her husband. It is found, strangely enough,
in a book about Ulysses S. Grant, and not about Grant as
a general but concerning his life after the close of the
Civil War, a book entitled Grant in Peace, from Ap-
pomattox to Mount McGregor by Adam Badeau, one of
General Grant's aides. General Badeau knew, when he
wrote this book in 1887, all about Mrs. Lincoln's mental
condition. In fact he refers to it as throwing a new light
on circumstances "until then inexplicable." In a chapter
headed "The Grants and the Lincolns," General Badeau
tells nothing that really connects the two families, nothing
regarding the relations of President Lincoln and General
Grant. The entire chapter is devoted to the distressing
scenes at City Point and to a discussion of Mrs. Lincoln's
actions following her husband's death. After giving his
version of the City Point affair and after relating some of
Mrs. Lincoln's actions in her definitely insane years, Gen-
eral Badeau tells his readers that "the shadow of insanity
thrown across the intelligence of Mrs. Lincoln, relieves
her from reproach or blame." 67 If he sincerely believed
this why did he deem it necessary to devote an entire
chapter to the blameless actions of an insane woman, and
do this in a book unrelated to her?

The White House years were not kind to Mary Todd
Lincoln. She had gone to Washington full of happy antici-
pation of the life she was to lead as the president's wife.

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 185

Undoubtedly she had looked forward to the social whirl
of Washington. It may well be that she pictured herself
as the leader of Washington society, for she probably had
read of the part played in that society by former White
House mistresses, particularly by President Buchanan's
niece and official hostess, Harriett Lane, who, from all
reports, had been adored by Washington society. That
Mary Lincoln had social ambitions in Washington is only
natural. No doubt many another wife of a president-elect
has looked forward eagerly to the social life that would
be hers as First Lady of the Land. Doubtless, too, every
woman in that position has been keenly aware of the part
she could play in helping her husband, and in furthering
his interests through the social activities of the White
House. Thus, while Mary Lincoln was looking forward to
the social life that was to be hers, she was probably also
thinking of how she could help her husband through that
life, how she could continue to stand shoulder to shoulder
with him as she had done throughout the long years of
struggle in Springfield. In those years she had proved her-
self a true partner and helpmate. That she had not
changed in this respect is shown by her efforts to help her
husband to carry his burden throughout the White House
years.

Always concerned about his health, she tried to watch
over her husband more closely than ever. This was hard to
do, for Lincoln became so immersed in the problems of
war that it was not easy for her to keep track of his move-
ments. She strove to see that he ate his meals regularly,
sending trays to his study if she could not get him to come
to the dining room. She tried to lure his mind away from
his burdens by inviting congenial friends to dine with

186 Legends That Libel Lincoln

them or to come for breakfast. One friend particularly, a
Mr. Galloway, was, according to one account, frequently
invited because of his knack of telling stories which helped
to lift the burdened President out of his thoughts. Mrs.
Grimsley describes such breakfasts, at which the President
frequently arrived late: "Mr. Lincoln would come in,
looking so sad and harassed, seat himself with a bare nod
of recognition, saying, 'Mother, I do not think I ought to
have come!' Mr. Galloway would go on with some pleas-
ant anecdote (often purposely begun, with Mr. Lincoln's
entrance) for he was an inveterate joker. Presently Mr.
Lincoln's mouth would relax, his eyes brighten, and his
whole face lighten, as only those who had seen the trans-
formation would believe, and we would be launched into
a sea of laughter, he himself falling in with his oft quoted
expression, 'And this reminds me . . .' " 68

As the weight of the war pressed down more heavily
upon her husband, Mrs. Lincoln insisted that he drive
with her in the afternoon. She claimed this as her right,
but did so in order to find some way of giving him a short
breathing spell. Mrs. Helm tells us: "Sister has always a
cheerful word and smile for Mr. Lincoln, who seems thin
and careworn and seeing her sorrowful would add to his
care." 69 She tells how, on one occasion when Mary was
much depressed and in tears, she heard her husband com-
ing, quickly brushed away the tears and met him with a
smiling face and a seemingly happy manner. "Mrs. Lin-
coln lived for her husband and children, banishing before
a never flagging cheerfulness her husband's cares of office
while at home," said Mrs. Edward Bates, wife of the at-
torney general.70 And, some years later, General Sickles
said: "It was my privilege to know President Lincoln and

Alary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 187

his consort through all the years they spent at the White
House. I have never seen a more devoted couple. He al-
ways called her Mother and she always called him Father.
In their domestic relations and in their devotion to
their children, I have never seen a more congenial couple.
He always looked to her for comfort and consolation in his
troubles and cares. Indeed, the only joy poor Lincoln
knew after reaching the White House were his wife and
children. She shared all his troubles and never recovered
from the culminating blow when he was assassinated." 71
Lincoln did turn to his wife for comfort, as General
Sickles said. Both Mrs. Keckley and Mrs. Grimsley relate
how he would go to her room and sink down on a couch
in utter weariness, lying there without a word, at times,
until some of the weariness had left him. Then he might
take a cup of tea, or possibly he would pick up a book,
the Bible perhaps, and read to himself or aloud to those
in the room. There was no need for him to go to his wife's
room for quiet and rest; he had his own apartment. But,
like a tired child, he turned to his wife for comfort and
relaxation.

Yes, Mary Todd Lincoln was trying to do her part, to
bear her full share of the partnership. When Lincoln was
planning his trip from Springfield to Washington, to be
inaugurated as president, she had not intended to accom-
pany him, for he planned a long, indirect journey of
many days' duration, in order to visit a large number of
important cities. Almost at the last moment, we are told,
General Scott, who, like many others, was fearful of this
trip because of the numerous threats against Lincoln's
life, suggested that Mrs. Lincoln accompany her husband,
believing that the presence of his family might act as a

188 Legends That Libel Lincoln

deterrent to those who intended violence. She changed
her plans, joined her husband in Indianapolis, and made
the rest of the journey with him. After the first battle of
Bull Run, when many feared that Washington would be
captured and many families fled from the city, she was
urged to leave. She refused to go, however, saying that her
place was at her husband's side. Later, in 1864, when
General Early's army was in sight of Washington and again
there was danger that the city would be taken, she refused
to join those who were hastening away. She remained with
her husband, and accompanied him to Fort Stevens during
the battle for the defense of Washington. Mary Todd
Lincoln was no coward, and she had a strong sense of
duty backed by the will to carry it out, a will that caused
Senator Fessenden to remark at one time: "If the Presi-
dent had his wife's will and would use it rightly, our
affairs would look much better." 72

She accompanied her husband to the hospitals or, if
he could not go, visited them alone. "It may not be
known," commented one Washington paper, "that Mrs.
Lincoln has contributed more than any lady at Washing-
ton, from her private purse, to alleviate the sufferings of
our wounded soldiers; and it is but just to add that day by
day her carriage is seen in front of the hospitals, where
she distributes with her own hands delicacies prepared in
the kitchen of the White House." 73 On November 29,
1862, the Washington Chronicle reported: "Mrs. Lincoln
returned to Washington on Thursday evening, apparently
much improved by her visit to the North. The sick and
wounded soldiers in our hospitals will hail her return
with joy." 74 William O. Stoddard tells us that she rarely
took others with her on these visits. "If she were worldly

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 189

wise," he writes, "she would carry newspaper correspond-
ents, from two to five, of both sexes, every time she went,
and she would have them take shorthand notes of what
she says to the sick soldiers and of what the sick soldiers
say to her. Then she would bring the writers back to the
White House and give them some cake and — and coffee,
as a rule, and show them the conservatory. By keeping
up such a process until every correspondent that Colonel
Baker can find for her has been dealt with, say twice, she
could somewhat sweeten the contents of many journals
and of the secretary's waste-basket. The directly opposite
course, as she pursues it, has not by any means worked
well." 75 Southern papers sarcastically dubbed her "The
Yankee Nurse," but the soldiers were not sarcastic. After
her death one of them wrote:

The death of the widow of the great Emancipator will
cause a feeling of sorrow all over this country but it will be
a cause of particular sorrow to the soldiers of the Army of
the Potomac who, sick or wounded in Washington hospitals,
were the objects of her especial care and attention. At the first
battle of Fredericksburg I received a painful wound in the
face . . . among the many who came to the hospitals to speak
cheering words to the afflicted none was more kind or showed
a nobler spirit than the wife of the Chief Magistrate of the
Nation. She called regularly, bringing with her by attendants
flowers, fruits and delicacies and bestowing them with her
own hand with a grace worthy of the station which she held
. . . she lives in the memory of those whose agonies she
soothed with ioving words.

(Signed) Frank G. Thompson 76

Robert Brewster Stanton gives us another picture of
Mrs. Lincoln in the hospitals: "For many months, during
the war, I acted as a volunteer visiting nurse in the hos-

190 Legends That Libel Lincoln

pitals in Washington and Georgetown. . . . Many times
I saw Mrs. Lincoln come to those hospitals, go through
the wards distributing flowers, little gifts, kind words,
smiles, and sympathy to the suffering heroes. And these
little acts were done in a manner that, it would seem
to me, they could not have been done except by one whose
whole heart was in the cause and in the same way as that
of her husband, and whose love and active help were
given freely and sincerely to those sufferings boys in
blue." 77 Another soldier, Howard Glyndon, remembered
her visits to the hospitals and wrote as follows: "She was
very generous to the sick soldiers in camp and in the
hospitals around Washington. I remember many of her
voluntary and unsolicited deeds of kindness, and she
visited the camps and hospitals frequently. These were not
the things it suited the convenience of her defamers to
have cognizance of, or to allow to go on record. I am
ashamed that today nothing of Mary Lincoln's goodness of
heart in this respect nor the sums of money spent by her
and by Mr. Lincoln for the sick and suffering during the
war is remembered or spoken of." 78

Still another story has been told by James H. Agen.
He relates that while he was in a Washington hospital in
1864 he was visited on several occasions by a motherly
woman who seemed to take a special interest in him
because of his youth, for he was then a mere boy of
sixteen. His visitor brought him flowers and special food,
but still better she brought a sincere interest in his welfare
and words of cheer and hope. "Looking at the flowers,"
he later said, "and thinking of the dear woman who had
spoken so kindly and hopefully had more effect in bright-
ening my spirits than all else that had occurred in the

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 191

hospital." One day, while sitting beside his bed, this
visitor wrote a letter to his mother to whom he had been
unable to write for some weeks. Later, when this boy was
able to go home, his mother asked him how he had liked
Mrs. Lincoln. He replied that he had never met her. Then
his mother showed him the letter written by his hospital
visitor. It had been written and was signed by Mrs.
Lincoln.79

In a few letters and a considerable number of tele-
grams from President Lincoln to his wife, which have
been preserved, we see the same spirit of comradeship that
was evidenced in the letters of Lincoln's Congressional
days. He had very little time for writing letters to her
when she was away from Washington or when he was
paying a visit to one of the armies, but sometimes even a
telegram can convey much. Only a husband genuinely
concerned would telegraph his wife: "Do not come on
the night train. It is too cold. Come in the morning." 80
Only one who looked upon his wife as a partner would
send her the latest war news, or write to her about polit-
ical matters. A few of his messages are given here in
order to show the general tone of the many he sent to her.

June 9, 1!

Think you had better put "Tad's" pistol away. I had an
ugly dream about him.

June 11, 1863.
Your three dispatches received. I am very well and am
glad to know you and Tad are so.

June 15, 1863.
Tolerably well. Have not rode out much yet, but have
at last got new tires on the carriage wheels and perhaps shall
ride out soon.

192 Legends That Libel Lincoln

August 29, 1863.
All quite well. Fort Sumter is certainly battered down
and useless to the enemy, and it is believed here, but not en-
tirely certain, that both Sumter and Fort Wagner are occupied
by our forces. It is also certain that General Gilmore has
thrown some shot into the city of Charleston.

September 6, 1863.
All well and no news except that General Burnside has
Knoxville, Tenn.

September 21, 1863.
The air is so clear and cool and apparently healthy that
I would be glad for you to come. Nothing very particular,
but I would be glad to see you and Tad.

January 7, 1864.
We are all well and have not been otherwise.

April 28, 1864.
The draft will go to you. Tell Tad the goats and father
are very well, especially the goats.

September 8, 1964.
All well, including Tad's pony and the goats. Mrs.
Colonel Dimmick died night before last. Bob left Sunday
afternoon. Said he did not know whether he should see you.

Executive Mansion
Washington, August 8, 1863.
My dear Wife:

All well as usual, and no particular trouble anyway. I
put the money into the Treasury at five per cent, with the
privilege of withdrawing it at any time upon thirty days' no-
tice. I suppose you are glad to learn this. Tell dear Tad poor
"Nanny Goat" is lost, and Mrs. Cuthbert and I are in dis-
tress about it. The day you left, Nanny was found resting

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 193

herself and chewing her little cud on the middle of Tad's
bed; but now she's gone! The gardener kept complaining
that she destroyed the flowers, till it was concluded to bring
her down to the White House. This was done, and the second
day she disappeared and has not been heard of since. This
is the last we know of poor "Nanny."

The weather continues dry and excessively warm here.
Nothing very important occurring. The election in Kentucky
has gone very strongly right. Old Mr. Wickliffe got ugly, as
you know: ran for governor, and is terribly beaten. Upon
Mr. Crittenden's death, Brutus Clay, Cassius's brother, was
put on the track for Congress, and is largely elected. Mr.
Menzies, who, as we thought, behaved very badly last session
of Congress, is largely beaten in the district opposite Cin-
cinnati, by Green Clay Smith, Cassius Clay's nephew. But
enough.

Affectionately,

A. Lincoln 81

There is nothing extraordinary about these messages.
Indeed, they are quite ordinary, such messages as might
be sent by any husband and father. For that very reason
they evidence that, in many respects, Abraham and Mary
Lincoln were just an ordinary married couple, with that
mutual understanding and dependence which brings the
"calm contentment" noted by Carl Sandburg when dis-
cussing letters of earlier years.

There are not many intimate pictures of the Lincoln
family life in the White House. Probably there was little
opportunity for family life, for the President had few
moments for relaxation and quiet with his wife and
children. But he seems to have seized upon every such
opportunity eagerly. A few writers, however, have given
us glimpses behind the scenes, as does Julia Taft Bayne,
in her book Tad Lincoln's Father. As a young girl, Julia

194 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Taft and her brothers had been intimate playmates of
Willie and Tad Lincoln. They were in the White House
almost daily in the first year of the Lincoln occupancy,
and she had many opportunities for observing the Presi-
dent and his wife in their family relations. She pictures
a happy family life in which both parents took a keen joy
in their children. Both showed many kindnesses to her
and to her brothers. Of Mrs. Lincoln she writes: "I have
a very tender memory of Mrs. Lincoln, who was always so
good to me. More than once she said, 'I wish I had a
little girl like you, Julia.' . . . She told me about her
little son Edward, who was between Robert and Willie
and who died in infancy, and we wept together as she
told me about his death. . . . She would ask me to play
my pieces of music to her. . . . When I played for Mrs.
Lincoln, she would stand beside me to the last note,
turning the leaves of my music. Somehow I never minded
playing for her." 82 Mrs. Bayne relates how she would
confide in Mrs. Lincoln as a young girl will to an older
woman who gives her sympathetic understanding: "I
would not have dared to annoy my lady-mother with such
trivial things, but the First Lady was not too exalted to
sympathize with my story and give me kind advice." 83

As we look into the White House we find that Charles
Sumner was a frequent visitor. Sumner was not the type
of man to have been attracted by a commonplace woman
or a shrew. He was an aristocrat, in some respects a snob,
who measured people by high and rigid standards. He
came to admire Mrs. Lincoln greatly and became one of
her stanch friends and defenders. He lent her books and
borrowed books from her. It was he, and almost he alone,

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 195

who forced a reluctant Senate to vote a pension to Mrs.
Lincoln in later years.

Elizabeth Keckley tells of Lincoln's manifest pride
in his wife and of his unfailing consideration for her. He
teased her at times, and listened to her outbursts against
officials or others, often with an amused twinkle in his
eye but always courteously and patiently. Mrs. Keckley
gives us no reason to believe that Abraham and Mary
Lincoln were not devoted to each other. We hear from
her of displays of temper on Mary Lincolns' part, but I
wonder if there are many husbands and wives whose years
together do not include some outbursts of temper on the
part of one or the other, or possibly of both. I wonder how
many could not be shown in an unfortunate light if only
certain regrettable moments were uncovered to the public
gaze. Elizabeth Keckley writes this about Abraham and
Mary Lincoln: "He was wholly unselfish in every respect,
and I believe that he loved the mother of his children
very tenderly. He asked nothing but affection from her,
but did not always receive it. When in one of her way-
ward impulsive moods, she was apt to say and do things
that wounded him deeply. If he had not loved her, she
would have been powerless to cloud his thoughtful face,
or gild it with a ray of sunshine as she pleased. We are
indifferent to those we do not love, and certainly the
President was not indifferent to his wife. She often
wounded him in unguarded moments, but calm reflection
never failed to bring regret." 84 Probably no one who left
reminiscences of the White House years, or who wrote
impressions of President and Mrs. Lincoln, had more or
better opportunities for observing them in moments of
intimacy than Elizabeth Keckley.

196 Legends That Libel Lincoln

Next to Mrs. Keckley, probably no person had closer
association with Mrs. Lincoln than William O. Stoddard,
who already has been mentioned. Here i's a picture of
Mrs. Lincoln which he gives: "She was never less than a
somewhat authoritative ruler of her own affairs, but it is
entirely easy, for all that, to meet her with the most
positive and strenuous negatives. She is always ready to
listen to argument and to yield to plainly put reasons for
doing or for not doing, provided the arguments come from
a recognized friend, for her personal antipathies are quick
and strong, and at times they find hasty and resentful
forms of expression. It was not easy, at first, to understand
why a lady who could be one day so kindly, so considerate,
so generous, so thoughtful and so hopeful, could, upon
another day, appear so unreasonable, so irritable, so de-
spondent, so even niggardly, and so prone to see the dark,
the wrong side of men and women and events. It is easier
to understand it all and to deal with it after a few words
from an eminent medical practitioner." 85 Stoddard writes
of being summoned by Mrs. Lincoln on one occasion
when she, he says, was "waiting in the Red Room, and
she is bright, cheerful, almost merry. Her instructions are
given in a very kindly and vivacious manner. As you look
at her and talk with her, the fact that she has so many
enemies strikes you as one of the moral curiosities of this
venomous time, for she never in any way harmed one of
the men and women who are so recklessly assailing her." 86

Another who served in the White House, and had op-
portunities for close observation of Mrs. Lincoln, was
Colonel William H. Crook. For some months prior to
Lincoln's assassination he was one of the personal body-
guards and was in the White House daily. He writes: "I

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 197

saw a good deal of Mrs. Lincoln while I was on day duty.
Very few who were not about the house realized how ex-
acting were the duties of her position. She was, of course,
much absorbed by social duties, which presented difficul-
ties no other President's wife has had to contend against.
The house was filled, the receptions were crowded, with
all sorts of people, of all varieties of political conviction,
who felt, according to the temper of the time, that they
had a perfect right to take up the President's time with
their discourse and to demand of Mrs. Lincoln social con-
sideration. Nor could there be discrimination used at the
state dinner-parties; any man who was bearing a part in
the events of the day must be invited — and his women
folks. . . . The White House has never, during my forty
years' service, been so entirely given over to the public as
during Mr. Lincoln's administration. The times were too
anxious to make of social affairs anything more than an
aid to more serious matters. It was necessary, of course;
but it made it difficult for a first-lady-in-the-land with any
preferences or prejudices not to make enemies on every
hand. . . . The President's wife found time, too, to in-
vestigate cases of need that were brought to her attention,
and to help. I know of such cases. She was kind to all the
employees of the White House. I think she was very gen-
erally liked." 87

Robert Lincoln gives this hint of the dependence of
his father and of Tad on his mother, in a comment he
made to his aunt Emilie Todd Helm, whom he happened
to meet at Fortress Monroe in March, 1865. He said: "I
think Mother has never quite recovered from the effects
of her fall. It is really astonishing what a brave front she
manages to keep when we know she is suffering — most

kj8 Legends That Libel Lincoln

women would be in bed groaning, but not Mother! She
just straightens herself up a little more and says: 'It is
better to laugh than to be sighing.' Tad would go all to
pieces if she reversed the words of that opera, and so
would my father." 88

Just as Abraham Lincoln, in Springfield, had has-
tened home to share the news of his nomination with his
partner, so in the White House he thought of her first
when word of his nomination for a second term was re-
ceived. He was sitting in the telegraph office, where he
spent so many hours, when the operator handed him the
message containing the news. "What! Am I renominated!"
he exclaimed. "Send it right over to the Madam. She will
be more interested than I am." 89

It is quite apparent, I think, that Mary Todd Lincoln
has not been really known, that only one side of her per-
sonality has been presented and that side much distorted
and twisted. One might slightly modify the statement
made by Mark Antony over the body of Caesar: "Evil re-
ports of men live after them; the good are oft interred
with their bones." Certainly the evil reports of Mrs. Lin-
coln have lived after her, and have been kept alive and
passed on in biographies of her husband, and in other
books primarily devoted to some phase of his life or char-
acter. How seldom, in books about Abraham Lincoln, do
we find a sympathetic picture of his wife! How often, on
the contrary, are we given tales of her temper and other
failings, and only such tales, and of Lincoln's great for-
bearance and patience, and of his unhappiness. Too many
writers have told us of her shortcomings. Too few, far too
few, have let us know that there was a gentler, sweeter
side to her personality. Many who have written about her

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 199

have not been fully aware that throughout her White
House years her mind was slowly breaking under the force
of heavy pressures. Dr. W. A. Evans gives it as his studied
opinion that ''between 1861 and 1865 she should not be
held accountable for some of her actions." 90

No one denies her faults. She had, perhaps, more than
her share of them. We know of her uncontrollable temper,
which seemed to grow worse as the pressures bore down
upon her. We know of her caustic tongue, which made
far too many cutting remarks about people of Washington
society, whose vicious attacks upon her should have been
ignored, and about important personages, remarks which
only served to injure her in the minds of others. William
O. Stoddard has called attention to her quick changes, be-
ing one day kindly and considerate and the next unreason-
able and bitter. And John Hay refers to her bad days by
calling her, in the early pages of his diary, the "Hell-cat
. . . getting more Hell-catical day by day." 91 Undoubt-
edly there were days when she was a most difficult person
to get along with. For she was a strange woman. "I never
in my life saw a more peculiarly constituted woman.
Search the world over, and you will not find her coun-
terpart" 92 — so wrote Elizabeth Keckley. We know, too,
that she was not always scrupulous in money matters and
we read in John Hay's diary that she wanted the salary of
the White House steward, who had been discharged, paid
to her.93 And, unfortunately, there are other cases about
which we read, some doubtless colored and exaggerated by
the political and social gossip of Washington, but which
cannot be entirely dismissed on this score. She was a curi-
ous mixture of avariciousness, parsimony, and extrava-
gance, and one cannot help but wonder whether she was

200 Legends That Libel Lincoln

not then showing the beginnings of that definite mental
aberration about money which was her most marked ab-
normal trait after 1865. For her actions in the White
House have many similarities to those which later caused
her to be adjudged insane.

Yes, we know Mrs. Lincoln's faults. They have been
told and retold by writers, many of whom tell us nothing
else. But with all her faults she was not the despicable
creature some would have us believe. With all her per-
sonal faults of character she was a stanch, loyal wife to
Abraham Lincoln who, as Dr. Evans writes, "laughed with
him and even joked at rare intervals, bossed him, made
him take rest and indulge in diversions, and dispelled his
gloom when he was in the depression sector of his cyclic
personality." 94 As one defender of Mrs. Lincoln has writ-
ten: "Entirely too much emphasis has been placed upon
her faults, and not enough consideration has been given
to her virtues. As a result all just sense of proportion has
been lost. And she who so richly deserves the gratitude of
her country has been the most maligned and misunder-
stood woman in history. But to harp on exaggerated faults
and ignore the good about her is neither historical nor
just. History demands a decent respect for facts, and jus-
tice requires that her commendable qualities be balanced
against her failings." 95

Only in recent years have students devoted their ef-
forts to presenting the true Mary Todd Lincoln. In time
I hope that the traditional picture of her will be dispelled
and forgotten, for, as Dr. Evans says, "tradition has not
been kind or even just." 96 I hope, too, that the work of
these students will come to be used as source material by
biographers of her husband, far too many of whom have

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 201

been content to follow tradition. Perhaps some of them
will quote the editorial of the New York Times given in
an earlier chapter. And the words of Charles Sumner,
spoken in the Senate at the close of his long and gallant
fight to force the passage of a bill granting a pension to the
widow of Abraham Lincoln, should be quoted more often.
"Surely," he said, "the honorable members of the Senate
must be weary of casting mud on the garments of the wife
of Lincoln: those same garments on which one terrible
night, a few years ago, gushed out the blood and brains of
Abraham Lincoln. She sat beside him in the theater and
she received that pitiful, that holy deluge on her hands
and skirts because she was the chosen companion of his
heart. She loved him. I speak of that which I know. He
had all her love and Lincoln loved, as only his mighty
heart could love, Mary Lincoln." 97

This story ends with the assassination of Abraham
Lincoln. Then the life partnership was broken; then Mary
Todd Lincoln's task as helpmate was brought to a close.
Her mind, already giving way under the terrific pressures
that for years had borne down upon it, could not with-
stand this last terrible shock. To write the story of the
seventeen years following her husband's death would be
to write a story of tragedy, of a woman unbalanced in
mind. It would be the story of regrettable actions taken
in the first of those seventeen years, actions springing from
the hallucinations of a disordered mind, which brought
forth criticism and abuse, much of it savage, cruel, and
indefensible. For while those uttering this abuse may not
have been aware that they were attacking a woman driven
insane by her trials, that fact cannot excuse the vitupera-
tion of their attack. Their minds were not shattered, but

202 Legends That Libel Lincoln

they were sadly unbalanced by passion. As one reads the
attacks made upon Mrs. Lincoln in the press in the years
after her husband's death, and on the floor of the Senate
during the debate on her pension bill, one can only feel
that our country was at a very low point in public de-
cency. In 1872, Ward H. Lamon made this comment on
the attacks that were being heaped upon her: "Almost
ever since Mr. Lincoln's death, a portion of the press has
never tired of heaping brutal reproaches upon his wife
and widow; whilst a certain class of his friends thought
that they were honoring his memory by multiplying out-
rages and indignities upon her, at the very moment when
she was broken by want and sorrow, defamed, defenseless,
in the hands of thieves, and at the mercy of spies. If ever a
woman expiated an offense not her own, this woman
did." 98 A few years later, Isaac N. Arnold wrote: "That
love of scandal and of personality, unfortunately too gen-
eral, induced reporters to hang around her doors, to dog
her steps to chronicle and exaggerate her impulsive words,
her indiscretions, and her eccentricities. There is nothing
in American history so unmanly, so devoid of every chival-
ric impulse, as the treatment of this poor, broken-hearted
woman, whose reason was shattered by the great tragedy
of her life." ••

The amazing thing about the attacks upon Mrs. Lin-
coln was that the worst of them came from members of
her husband's political party and from the Republican
press. So vicious were they that Democratic newspapers
protested. On October 8, 1867, the Ohio Statesman said:
"The bitterness and ferocity of the Republican press on
Mrs. Lincoln is without a parallel in the history of news-
paper warfare. In her lonely widowed condition, without

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 203,

a male protector to defend her from their base assaults,
she who but a few years previous was bespattered with all
sorts of praise as giving life and character to the White
House, as the 'rosy Empress' who won all hearts by her
queenly manners is now traduced as if she were a common
thief and a disgrace to her sex for heartless, grasping
avarice. In this war it is painful to see editors who claim
to be governed by the decencies of life and to be gentle-
men in name if not by nature join in the cry of black-
guards and slanderers to traduce the wife of a man whom
they profess to be without a peer within the length and
breadth of the land. Such things are disgraceful, disgrace-
ful!" 10°

Even before her husband was buried, attacks upon
Mary Todd Lincoln began in her old home town of
Springfield. There a committee was hastily formed, after
Lincoln's assassination, to provide a suitable place for his
burial. Acting quickly, this committee purchased a tract
of land close to the center of the city. Here they planned
that Lincoln should be buried and a fine monument
erected in his honor. Work to prepare the site was started
immediately. Mrs. Lincoln, however, did not approve of
this plan, and insisted that her husband be buried in Oak
Ridge Cemetery. At one time, she said, he had asked that
he be buried in a quiet, secluded spot. Protests and plead-
ings were of no avail and there were many disappointed
and angry people in Springfield. One citizen wrote at that
time: ''The people are in a rage about it and all the hard
stories that ever were told about her are told over again.
She has no friends here . . ." 101 Apparently there was no
sympathy for the distraught widow of the martyred presi-
dent, no thought that her wishes were of any consequence.

204 Legends That Libel Lincoln

The feeling seems to have been that she was merely being
stubborn and contrary. Numerous writers, in telling of
this, share that feeling and use it as an example of Mrs.
Lincoln's selfish desire to have her own way. No one can
question the motives of the citizens of Springfield in wish-
ing to honor Abraham Lincoln. Their disappointment is
most understandable. Nevertheless, one can only feel that
the wishes of the widow should have been consulted in ad-
vance, and that they should have prevailed. In death a
public man belongs to his loved ones more than he does
to the public, for death closes his public career and sends
him home.

Mary Todd Lincoln, who stood shoulder to shoulder
with her husband throughout the long years of struggle
in Springfield and the years of trial in the White House,
really perished as she sat by his side on the night of April
14, 1865. "What wonder if the shock of that sad hour, that
made a nation reel, should leave a tender loving woman,
shattered in body and in mind, to walk softly all her days.
It is no reflection upon either the strength of her mind or
the tenderness of her heart, to say that when Abraham
Lincoln died, she died. The lightning that struck down
the strong man, unnerved the woman. The sharp iron of
this pungent grief went to her soul." 102 So, in part, spoke
the Reverend James A. Reed in a beautiful tribute de-
livered at Mrs. Lincoln's funeral.

For seventeen years she lived in a mist, sometimes
heavy, sometimes lifting; at times doing strange, regret-
table things, things that in time caused her to be legally
pronounced insane and confined for a short period in a
sanatorium. Much of the time she lived a quiet, obscure

Mary Todd Lincoln — Her White House Years 205

life. Always she clung to the memory of her husband. At
length, on July 16, 1882, death mercifully came, and she
lay at rest beside the man she loved, her husband who had
tenderly watched over her, her partner, Abraham Lincoln.

NOTES

Notes

CHAPTER I

i. Bulletin of The Abraham Lincoln Association, No. 24,

P- 5-

2. Morrow, Mary Todd Lincoln, pp. 204-205.

CHAPTER 11

1. Tarbell, In the Footsteps of the Lincolns, p. 87.

2. Randall, Lincoln the President, Vol. II, p. 325.

3. Ibid.

4. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 176.

5. For a full account of the authorship of the Lamon
biography see Journal of the Illinois State Historical Societyr
Vol. XXXI, No. 3.

6. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 4.

7. Ibid., p. 25.

8. Ibid., p. 92.

9. Ibid., p. 138 (Italics Mr. Herndon's).

10. Ibid., p. 65.

11. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 105.

12. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 183 (Italics supplied),

13. Ibid., p. 141.

14. Ibid., p. 178 (Italics Mr. Herndon's).

15. Ibid., p. 37.

16. Ibid., p. 40 (Italics Mr. Herndon's).

17. Ibid., pp. 49-50.

18. Ibid., p. 131.

19. Ibid., p. 136.

20. Ibid., p. 124.

21. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. xxxix (Italics
Mr. Herndon's).

209

210 Legends That Libel Lincoln

22. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, pp. xxxix-xl.

23. Weik, The Real Lincoln, p. 14.

24. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 147.

25. Ibid., p. 102.

26. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 434.

27. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 102.

28. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 59 (Italics Mr. Hern-
don's).

29. Ibid., p. 66.

30. Ibid., p. 94.

31. Ibid., p. 109 (Italics Mr. Herndon's).

32. Lamon, The Life of Lincoln, pp. 46-47.

33. Ibid., p. 49.

34. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 32.

35. Ibid., p. 5.

36. Atkinson, The Boyhood of Lincoln, p. 23.

37. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 281.

38. Atkinson, The Boyhood of Lincoln, p. 35.

39. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 43, p. 7.

40. Angle, New Letters and Papers of Lincoln, pp. 253-54.

41. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 349.

42. Stern, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 603.

CHAPTER III

1. Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln,

P- 5-

2. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, pp. 79-80 (Italics Mr.

Herndon's).

3. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. vii.

4. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 132.

5. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 12.

6. Ibid.

7. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 8-9.

8. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 4.

9. Ibid., p. 9.

10. Ibid., p. 11.

11. Rothschild, Lincoln, Master of Men, p. 1.

Notes 2 1 1

12. Holden, Abraham Lincoln, The Politician and the
Man, p. 124.

13. Ibid., p. 5.

14. Gore, The Boyhood of Abraham Lincoln, p. 99.

15. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 39.

16. Wilson, Division and Reunion, 1829-1909, p. 216.

17. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 4.

18. Tarbell, In the Footsteps of the Lincolns, pp. 34-41

19. Ibid., pp. 42-51.

20. Ibid., pp. 53-59.

21. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 11.

22. Rogers, His Name Was Not Forgotten.

23. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 46.

24. Barton, The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 266-
267.

25. Stern, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 600.

26. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 14.

27. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, p. 1.

28. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 40.

29. Ibid., p. 41.

30. Ibid., p. 159.

31. Ibid., p. 43.

32. Ibid., p. 160.

33. Stern, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 600.

34. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pp.

44-45-

35. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, p. 2.

36. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pp.
46-47.

37. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, pp. 2-3.

38. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pp.

49"5°-

39. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, p. 3.

40. Ibid., p. 3-4.

41. Ibid., No. 32, p. 6.

42. Ibid., No. 9, p. 4.

212 Legends That Libel Lincoln

43. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, pp. 4-6.

44. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pp.

52-54-

45. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858, Vol. I, p. 23.

46. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years, Vol.
I, p. 14.

47. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 12-13.

48. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 165.

49. Ibid.

50. Ibid.

51. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 5.

52. Ibid.

53. Pratt, Lincoln Day by Day, 1809-1839, p. xiv.

54. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pp.

56"57-

55. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, p. 6.

56. Schurz, Abraham Lincoln, An Essay, p. 3.

57. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 3.

58. Herndon and Weik, Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 19.

59. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 174.

60. Ibid., pp. 111-112.

61. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 9, p. 7.

62. Ibid.

63. Ibid.

64. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 27.

65. Wilson, Division and Reunion, 1829-1909, p. 216.

66. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 35.

67. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 113.

68. Pratt, Lincoln Day by Day, 1809-1839, p. xv.

69. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 34, p. 6.

70. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 36.

71. Ibid.

72. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 16.

73. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 9.

74. Stern, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 600.

75. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 16.

76. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 34.

Notes 213

77. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 20.

78. Warren, The Slavery Atmosphere of Lincoln's Youth,
p. 10.

79. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pp. 287-
289.

80. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. Ill,
p. 50.

81. Ibid., Vol. VII, p. 116.

82. Tarbell, In the Footsteps of the Lincolns, p. 143.

83. Warren, "The Lincolns, Hoosier Pioneers," p. 8.

84. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 350.

85. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 23.

86. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 363.

87. Ibid., p. 366.

88. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 59, Vol. I, p. 61.

89. Lincoln Herald, June, 1943, pp. 32-33.

90. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 32, p. 6.

91. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 353.

92. Ibid., p. 366.

93. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p.
277.

94. Herndon and Weik, Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 29.

95. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 30-31.

96. Schurz, Abraham Lincoln, An Essay, p. 3.

97. Sherwood, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, p. 9.

98. Tarbell, In the Footsteps of the Lincolns, p. 163.

99. Barton, The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln, p. 271.

100. Atkinson, The Boyhood of Lincoln, pp. 44-45.

101. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 12.

102. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 45.

103. Ibid., p. 48.

104. Howells, Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 20.

105. Herndon and Weik, Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 33.

106. Ibid., p. 33.

107. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 352 (Italics supplied).

108. Ibid., p. 351 (Italics supplied).

109. Rice, Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, p. 458.

110. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858, Vol. I, p. 78.

214 Legends That Libel Lincoln

111. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, pp.
77-78.

112. Ibid., p. 78.

113. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 66.

114. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, pp.

65-67.

115. Ibid., p. 66.

116. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 278.

117. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858, Vol. I, p. 67.

118. Ibid., p. 66.

119. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 13.

120. Weik, The Real Lincoln, p. 24.

121. Carnegie, Lincoln the Unknown, p. 14.

122. Weik, The Real Lincoln, pp. 21-22.

123. Rice, Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, p. 468.

124. Stern, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 287.

125. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II,
pp. i 20-1 21.

126. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 147.

127. Barton, The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 291-

294-

128. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II,
pp. 150-151.

129. Emerson, Letters and Social Aims (Essay on Great-
ness), p. 301.

130. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II,
p. 150.

131. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 88.

CHAPTER IV

1. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 273.

2. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 35, p. 2.

3. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 150.

4. Ibid., p. 151.

5. Ibid.

6. Lamon, The Life of Lincoln, p. 244.

7. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809- 18 58, Vol. I, p. 148;
Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, p. 175.

Notes 215

8. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 '58, Vol. I, p. 148.

9. Barton, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 214.

10. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 35, p. 5.

11. Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, pp. 173-174.

12. Ibid., p. 178.

13. Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 121.

14. Barton, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 214.

15. Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, p. 178.

16. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, pp.
149-150.

17. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, pp. xli-xlii.

18. Barton, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II, p. 438.

19. Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, pp. 180-182.

20. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p. 155.

21. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. xliii.

22. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 154.

CHAPTER V

1. Newton, Lincoln and Herndon, p. 323.

2. Carnegie, Lincoln the Unknown, p. 285.

3. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 136.

4. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 181.

5. Hertz, Th'e Hidden Lincoln, p. 37.

6. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, pp. 182.

7. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 131.

8. Ibid., p. 136.

9. Lamon, The Life of Lincoln, p. 238.

10. Ibid., p. 473.

11. Ibid., p. 474.

12. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-18 58, Vol. I, p.

356-

13. Carnegie, Lincoln the Unknown, p. 236.

14. Nicolay, A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 69.

15. Charnwood, Abraham Lincoln, p. 87.

16. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 44.

17. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years, Vol.
II, p. 279.

18. Villard, Lincoln on the Eve of '61, pp. 70-71.

216 Legends That Libel Lincoln

19. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 344.

20. Ibid., p. 40.

21. Ibid., p. 129 (Italics Mr. Herndon's).

22. Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, p. 184.

23. Rankin, Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 162.

24. Randall, Lincoln the President, Vol. I, pp. 67-68.

25. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 38 (Italics Mr. Hern-
don's).

26. Ibid., p. 41.

27. Ibid., p. 88.

28. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858, Vol. I, p.
126.

29. Shaw, Abraham Lincoln, The Year of His Election,
p. 230.

30. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 104.

31. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years, Vol.
I, p. 426.

32. Sherwood, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, p. 104.

33. Ibid., p. 172.

34. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, pp. 32-34.

35. Ibid., pp. 80-81.

36. Ibid., p. 80.

37. Ibid., p. 72.

38. Ibid., p. 61.

39. Ibid., p. 84-85.

40. Townsend, Lincoln and His Wife's Home Town, pp.

78-79.

41. Ibid., p. 81.

42. Ibid., p. 84-85.

43. Helm, Mary, Life of Lincoln, pp. 35-38.

44. Townsend, Lincoln and His Wife's Home Town, pp.
84-85.

45. Ibid., p. 84.

46. Ibid., p. 79.

47. Ibid., p. 87.

48. Nicolay, A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 63.

49. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 137.

Notes 217

50. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, pp. 165-166.

51. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 114.

52. Ibid., pp. 106-107.

53. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 55.

54. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 38.

55. Ludwig, Lincoln, p. 83.

56. Tarbell, The Life of Lincoln, Vol. I, pp. 176-180.

57. Hay, "Lincoln in 1841 and 1842," p. 117.

58. Ibid.

59. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 376.

60. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 175.

61. Ibid., p. 180.

62. Ibid., p. 184.

63. Hay, "Lincoln in 1841 and 1842," p. 119.

64. Ibid., p. 124.

65. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I,

P- 279-

66. Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 276-277.

67. Stephenson, Lincoln, p. 40.

68. Newton, Lincoln and Herndon, p. 322.

69. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. xliv.

70. Ibid., p. 163.

71. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 164.

72. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 237-238.

73. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 66.

74. Ibid., p. 7.

75. Lincoln Lore, No. 410, Feb. 15, 1937.

76. Bowen, A. Lincoln: His House, p. 69.

77. Ibid., p. 20.

78. Arnold, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 82-83.

79. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 348.

80. Ibid., p. 349.

81. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858, Vol. I, pp.

523-524-

82. Ibid., p. 522.

218 Legends That Libel Lincoln

83. Ibid., p. 524.

84. Ibid., p. 525.

85. Angle, Abraham Lincoln: Circuit Lawyer, p. 24.

86. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 249.

87. Angle, Abraham Lincoln: Circuit Lawyer, p. 29.

88. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 36, p. 8.

89. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 349.

90. Hertz, The Hidden Lincoln, p. 384.

91. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years, Vol.
II, p. 278.

92. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, pp. 69-70.

93. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 348.

94. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years, Vol.
II, p. 279.

95. Morrow, Mary Todd Lincoln, pp. 79-80.

96. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, pp. 72-73.

97. Angle, New Letters and Papers of Lincoln, pp. 41-42.

98. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, pp. 188-190.

99. Hertz, Abraham Lincoln, A New Portrait, Vol. II,

PP- 573-574-

100. Angle, New Letters and Papers of Lincoln, pp. 45-46.

101. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, pp. 236-237.

102. Rankin, Intimate Character Sketches of Abraham
Lincoln, pp. 162-163.

103. Rankin, Personal Recollections of Abraham Lin-
coln, p. 161.

104. Whitney, Life on the Circuit with Lincoln, p. 110.

105. Ibid., pp. 111-112.

106. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, pp. 106-113.

107. Townsend, Lincoln and His Wife's Home Town, p.

90.

108. Ibid., p. 306.

109. Ritze, "In Defense of Mrs. Lincoln," pp. 27-28.

110. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, pp. 237-238.

111. Newton, Lincoln and Herndon, pp. 227-228.

Notes 219

112. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol.
IV, p. 195.

113. Illinois State Register, Feb. 27, 1938.

114. Wilson, Lincoln Among His Friends, p. 99.

115. Ritze, "In Defense of Mrs. Lincoln/' p. 67.

116. Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, p. 204.

117. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 342.

118. Ritze, "In Defense of Mrs. Lincoln/' p. 66.

119. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 68.

120. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 246.

121. Lapsley, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. V,
p. 17.

122. Rankin, Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 185.

123. Ritze, "In Defense of Mrs. Lincoln," p. 65.

124. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years,
Vol. II, p. 283.

125. Barton, The Life of Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 437.

CHAPTER VI

1. Angle, Here I Have Lived, p. 239.

2. Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 365.

3. Ibid., pp. 365-366.

4. Shaw, Abraham Lincoln, The Year of His Election,
pp. 230-232.

5. Villard, Lincoln on the Eve of '61, p. 52.

6. Abraham Lincoln Quarterly, June, 1942, pp. 91-92.

7. Ibid., p. 93.

8. Villard, Lincoln on the Eve of '61, p. 54.

9. Wilson, Lincoln Among His Friends, pp. 304-305.

10. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. I,
P- 65.

11. Ibid., p. 91.

12. Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 42.

13. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 167.

14. Adams, An Autobiography, p. 103.

15. Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 567.

220 Legends That Libel Lincoln

16. Kinnaird, Mrs. Lincoln as a White House Hostess,
p. 6.

17. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 173.

18. Morrow, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 192.

19. Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 54.

20. Ibid.

21. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. II,
p. 252.

22. Ibid., p. 255.

23. Ibid., Vol. Ill, p. 347.

24. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 83.

25. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. II,
p. 249.

26. Ibid.

27. Leech, Reveille in Washington, p. 292.

28. Ibid., p. 296.

29. Grimsley, Six Months in the White House, p. 58.

30. Kinnaird, Mrs. Lincoln as a White House Hostess,
p. 11.

31. Barton, The Women Lincoln Loved, p. 329.

32. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. I,
p. 456.

33. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 259.

34. Kinnaird, Mrs. Lincoln as a White House Hostess,
p. 17.

35. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 84.

36. Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Time,
pp. 175-176.

37. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. II,
p. 261.

38. Ibid., p. 247.

39. Ibid., p. 247.

40. Ibid., p. 49.

41. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 171.

42. Ibid., p. 172.

Notes 221

43. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 90.

44. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. II,

P- 253-

45. Bradford, Wives, p. 43.

46. Welles, The Diary of Gideon Welles, Vol. II, p. 390.

47. Randall, Lincoln the President, Vol. I, p. 269.

48. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol.
IV, p. 70.

49. Kinnaird, Mrs. Lincoln as a White House Hostess,
p. 22.

50. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 91.

51. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 172.

52. Ibid.

53. Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, p. 237.

54. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 255.

55. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol. II,
pp. 256-258.

56. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 98.

57. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, pp. 217-218.

58. Hertz, Abraham Lincoln, A New Portrait, Vol. I, p.

239-

59. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 225.

60. Keckley, Behind the Scenes, pp. 116-117.

61. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 227 (Italics Mrs.
Helm's).

62. Ibid., p. 225.

63. Keckley, Behind the Scenes, p. 151.

64. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 240.

65. Ibid., p. 271.

66. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol.
IV, pp. 152-153.

67. Badeau, Grant in Peace, p. 364.

68. Grimsley, Six Months in the White House, p. 55.

69. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 223.

70. Ibid., p. 195.

222 Legends That Libel Lincoln

71. Ibid., pp. 195-196.

72. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol.
II, p. 246.

73. Kinnaird, Mrs. Lincoln as a White House Hostess,
p. 20.

74. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 204.

75. Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Time, pp.
87-88.

76. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, pp. 204-205.

77. Wilson, Lincoln Among His Friends, p. 351.

78. Lincoln Lore, No. 683, May 11, 1942.

79. Ibid.

80. The Lincoln Kinsman, No. 20, February, 1940 — for
this and all telegrams quoted.

81. Ibid.

82. Bayne, Tad Lincoln's Father, pp. 35-37.

83. Ibid., p. 36.

84. Keckley, Behind the Scenes, pp. 146-147.

85. Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Time, p.
62.

86. Ibid., p. 86.

87. Crook, Through Five Administrations, pp. 16-18.

88. Helm, Mary, Wife of Lincoln, p. 250.

89. Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, Vol.
Ill, p. 97.

90. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 320.

91. Dennett, Lincoln and the Civil War in the Diaries
and Letters of John Hay, p. 41.

92. Keckley, Behind the Scenes, p. 182.

93. Dennett, Lincoln and the Civil War in the Diaries
and Letters of John Hay, p. 40.

94. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 165.

95. Ritze, "In Defense of Mrs. Lincoln, y> pp. 68-69.

96. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, p. 345.

97. Morrow, Mary Todd Lincoln, pp. 192-193.

98. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 474.

99. Arnold, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 439-440.

Notes 223

100. Morrow, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 162.

101. Pratt, Concerning Mr. Lincoln, p. 129.

102. Sandburg and Angle, Mary Lincoln, Wife and
Widow, p. 328.

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lapsley, Arthur brooks. The Writings of Abraham Lincoln.
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ludwig, emil. Lincoln. Grosset & Dunlap.

mc murtry, r. gerald. "Thomas Lincoln's Corner Cupboard,"
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newton, Joseph fort. Lincoln and Herndon. Torch Press,
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nicolay, john g. A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln. The Cen-
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rankin, henry b. Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln.
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INDEX

Index

Abe Lincoln in Illinois, 67, 111

Abraham Lincoln Quarterly, 87

Adams, Charles Francis, 162

Agen, James H., 190

Angle, Paul M., 7, 22, 24, 53, 87, 94,
98, 109, 121-122, 124, 133, 154

Ann Rutledge, New Salem, Pioneer-
ing and the Poem, 86

Arnold, Isaac N., 21, 109-110, 130,
202

Atherton, 55

Atkinson, Eleanor, 29, 68

Badeau, General Adam, 184

Bailhache, Mrs. W. H., 160

Baker, Colonel, 189

Bancroft, George, 171

Banks, General, 174

Baringer, Wm. E., 173

Barnes, Captain, 183

Barton, Dr. Wm. E„ 43, 46, 60, 81,

87, 90, 92-94, 96-97, 108, 168
Bates, Edward G., 174
Bates, Mrs. Edward G., 186
Bayne, Julia Taft, 193-194
Belmont, Mrs. August, 161
Bennett, James Gordon, 165, 174
Beveridge, Albert J., 18-19, 24> 27-28,

30, 39, 46, 50, 52, 54-58, 69,

73-75» 77. 9°> 94. 104. in, 132
Black, Chauncey F„ 17
Black, Judge Jeremiah S., 17
Boone, Daniel, 61

Boyhood of Abraham Lincoln, 26-27,

29
Boyhood of Lincoln, 29
Bradford, Gameliel, 172
Brown, A. M., 25
Browning, Mrs. O. H., 97
Browning, Senator Orville H., 130
Buchanan, President, 17, 185
Buckner, 115
Burba, E. R., 52

Cameron, 91
Cameron, Senator, 164
Carlyle, Thomas, 102
Carnegie, Dale, 104
Chambrun, Marquis de, 147
Chapman, A. H., 76
Charnwood, Lord, 105
Chase, Salmon P., 153
Cincinnati Commercial, 171
Clark, George Rogers, 1 1 2
Clay, Henry, 113, 115
Combs, 115

Conkling, Joseph C, 121
Crawford, Elizabeth, 63
Crittenden, John J., 115
Crook, Colonel Wm. H., 196

Dallman, Mrs. Charles, 148

Davis, Jefferson, 177

Douglas, Stephen A., 112, 120, 146-

147, 151, 153, 159
Dred Scott Decision, 145

235

236

Index

Dubois, Fred T., 148
Dubois, Jesse K., 148

Eames, Mrs. 163

Earley, General, 188

Edwards, Matilda, 120-121

Edwards, Ninian W., 117

Edwards, Mrs. Ninian W., 119

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 82

Evans, Dr. W. A., 7, 113-114, 117,

142, 172, 174, 181-182, 199-200
Everett, Edward, 128

Fessenden, Senator, 188

Galloway, 186

Gentry, James, 63

Geoheagan, Denton, 50

Glyndon, Howard, 190

Gollaher, Austin, 25-27, 55

Gore, J. Rogers, 39

Gourley, James, 135

Grant, General U. S., 147, 183-184

Grant in Peace, from Appomattox to

Mt. McGregor, 184
Green, Bowling, 95-96
Green, Mrs. Bowling, 89
Green, William, 27, 74
Grigsby, Nathaniel, 63
Grimsley, Elizabeth Todd, 120, 168,

186-187

Hall, Wesley, 73

Halsted, Murat, 171

Hanks (daughter of Dennis), 30, 68

Hanks, Charles, 31

Hanks, Dennis, 27-29, 41, 60, 76-77

Hanks, John, 27-28, 30-31

Hanks, Joseph, 47-48

Hardin, Thomas, 51

Harding, 150

Harlan, Senator, 162

Hart, Charles H., 21-22, 110

Hay, John, 156, 199

Hay, Logan, 122

Haycraft, Samuel, 47, 51-52

Helm, Emilie Todd, 120, 144, 179-
180, 186, 197

Helm, Katherine, 7, 144

Herndon, Wm. H., 15-17, 20-25, 27,
S°-3l> 33> 37-38> 58> 62-63. 65, 69,
72-74, 83, 89, 93, 95-96, 98, 104,
106-111, 117-119, 124-125, 131-

J32, i35'136. 146, 149-151
responsibility for legends, 18-19,
21-23, 86-88, 94, 99, 103, 107, 125
Herndon Biography, 18
Hertz, Emanuel, 19, 72
Hidden Lincoln, 19
Hill, John, 87-88
His Name was not Forgotten, 9
Holden, Raymond, 39
House Dividing, 173
Howells, Wm. Dean, 71
Humphreys, Grandmother, 115

Illinois Historical Society, Journal,

146
Illinois State Journal, 160
Illinois State Register, 148
In Defense of Mrs. Lincoln, 148

Jackson, Andrew, 156-157
Johnston, John D., 68, 76, 80-83
Joseph, Jonathan, 56
Judd, Norman B., 151, 173

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 145

Keckley, Elizabeth, 175, 179-181, 187,

195-196, 199
Kinnair, Virginia, 163

Index

237

Koerner, Gustave, 147
Kreisman, 106-107

Lamon, Ward H., 17, 23, 27, 30, 37-
38, 50, 57-58, 65, 104, 125, 150,
202
Lane, Harriet, 185
Leech, Margaret, 167
Leslie's Weekly, 161
Letcher, 115

Levering, Mercy, 121-122
Lewis, Lloyd, 9
Lexington Observer, 145-146
Lincoln, Abraham (grandfather of

the President), 9, 44-46
Lincoln, Abraham (President),
ancestry, 36
birth, 26-27, 30, 53
boyhood, 7, 24-27, 30, 36, 55, 60,

67, 73, 76, 78-79
death, 32, 187, 201, 203
education, 70, 72-73, 75
insanity, 20, 86, 89, 95-97, 118-120
lawyer, 120, 132-134
legends, 4-6
political career, 71, 110, 112, 122,

151, 153-156, 158-160, 187-188
religion, 109
research, 3-4, 13-19, 23, 25, 32, 33,

101, 110
slavery, 31, 57-59, 145.155
see Lincoln, Mary Todd and Lin-
coln, A.; Lincoln, Thomas and
Lincoln, A.; Rutledge, Ann and
Lincoln, A.
Lincoln, Bathsheba or Bersheba, 10,

46
Lincoln, Eddie, 129, 136, 194
Lincoln, Isaac, 48
Lincoln, John, 44
Lincoln, Josiah, 10

Lincoln, Mary, 10
Lincoln, Mary Todd, 101-205
ancestry, 112

and Douglas, Stephen A., 112, 120
and Herndon, Wm. H., 21, 107-

109
and Lincoln, A., 5, 9-11, 13, 85-86,

100, 102, 104-106, 111, 116-118,

121-123, 127-129, 135-140, 142,

147' 149-152, 160, 176, 183-187,

191-193, 195, 197-198, 200, 204
characteristics, 103-104, 116-118,

126, 143, 148, 159, 162, 170, 188,

198-200
childhood, 113
children, 108, 126, 129, 132, 136,

142, 145, 168, 179, 186, 194
death, 11-12, 204-205
education, 114-115
engagement, 120-123
extravagances, 141-142, 168, 181
family life, 125-126, 130, 136, 143-

145, 147, 151, 193
in City Point, 176, 183-184
in Long Branch, 166
in Springfield, 107-116, 121, 130,

144, 148, 159-160
in Washington, 11, 106, 156-158,

161-163, 166-170, 174, 182, 184,

188, 196-197
insanity, 126-127, 159, 180-184,

199-201, 204
legends, 5-8, 10, 12, 18, 20-24, 32,

99, 102-107, 110-112, 118-121,

124, 127-129, 131-132, 134135,

147, 157-158,, 166, 171-172, 198,

202
marriage, 103, 124-125
pension, 179, 201-202
politics, 107, 115, 151, 155, 171-

176

238

Index

Lincoln, Mary Todd — Continued
research, 7-8, 34-35, 101-103, 110,

121, 200

slavery, 115-116, 145

spiritualism, 180

treason, 176-179

war charities, 188-191
Lincoln, Mordecai, 10, 44, 46, 57
Lincoln, Nancy, 10, 40
Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, 9, 14, 19, 26,
29-30, 38, 48-49, 51, 53, 64, 66, 70
Lincoln, Robert, 194, 197
Lincoln, Samuel, 43
Lincoln, Sarah Bush, 9, 29, 40-41, 64-

65. 72-73» 129
Lincoln, Tad, 10, 84, 148, 194, 197
Lincoln, Thomas, 36-84
ancestry, 37, 43-46
and Lincoln, A., 46, 53, 64, 67, 68,

71-78, 80-84, 129
birth, 47, 53
boyhood, 45-47

carpenter, 39, 47, 51-52, 61, 63
characteristics, 24, 30, 37, 41-42,

50, 52-53, 63, 68-69, 77
death, 67-68, 82-83
education, 38-39, 41, 69-70, 73-74
family life, 62-63, 77
landowner, 29, 38, 42, 45-46, 48, 50,

52>54>59>6l»66
last years, 68, 82
lawsuits, 50, 59-61
legends, 5, 7-10, 15, 17-18, 29, 36,

38-40, 45, 50, 54, 57, 60-61, 65-66,

69. 74-75. 78
marriage-Nancy Hanks, 14, 19, 26,

3°> 38> 49
marriage-Sarah Bush Johnston,

40, 62-65
militiaman, 47
public services, 49, 53, 56-57

Lincoln, Thomas — Continued
religion, 29, 42, 58-59, 61, 70-71
research, 7-8, 15, 34-35, 43
slavery, 57-59
storyteller, 71
Lincoln, Willie, 168-169, 179-180,

182, 194
Lincoln and His Wife's Home

Town, 7, 115
Lincoln, Master of Men, 39
Lincoln, the President, 18, 94
Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood,

24.43
Logan, Stephen T., 120
London Times, 162
Longstreth, T. Morris, 10

McCormick Reaper Case, 150

McNamar, John, 87-88, 90-94

Madison, Dolly, 176

Marshall, 115

Mary, Wife of Lincoln, 7

Mary Lincoln, Wife and Widow, 7

Menard Axis, 87

Menifee, 115

Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, 7

Mrs. Lincoln as a White House

Hostess, 163
Morehead, 115
Morrow, Honore Willsie, 136, 142

New Light on Lincoln's Only Ro-
mance, 9
New York Express, 169
New York Herald, 158, 160, 165-167
New York Times, 11-12, 201
New York Times Book Review, 9
Newton, Joseph Fort, 102, 124
Nicolay, John G., 19, 105
Nicolay and Hay's Life, 103

Index

239

Ohio Statesman, 202
Owens, Mary, 16, 85, 92-93, 97-98,
100, 122, 149

Parks, Samuel C, 71-72

Paternity of Abraham Lincoln, 46,

81
Pioneer Boy, 60, 62

Randall, Dr. J. G., 14, 16, 18-19, 94,
109, 173

Rankin, Henry B., 108, 142, 151

Real Lincoln, 18

Reed, Rev. James A., 204

Reveille in Washington, 167

Ritze, C. C, 146, 149-151

Robertson, 115

Rogers, Joel Townsley, 9, 26, 45

Rothschild, Alonzo, 39

Russell, Wm. H., 162-165

Rutledge, Ann, 85-100

and Lincoln, A., 20, 85-86, 88, 90,

92-98
and McNamar, John, 88-91, 93-94
death, 85-86, 88, 92-93, 95-98
legends, 5-11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 85-87,
89. 93-94» 98-10°

Sandburg, Carl, 7, 50, 106, 111, 121,
126, \$$-\$7, 142, 151* 165-166,
171-173, 193

Schurz, Carl, 66, 159

Scott, General, 187

Seward, 153

Seward, Wm. Henry, 174

Shaw, Albert, 111, 156-157

Sherwood, Robert E., 67, 111-112

Short, "Uncle Jimmie," 88

Sickles, General, 186-187

Speed, Joshua, 32, 64, 89, 111, 119-

120, 122-124
Sprague, Governor, 174
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 171
Stanton, Edwin M., 149-150
Stanton, Robert Brewster, 189
Stephenson, Nathaniel W., 26, 39,

44, 77, 105-106, 117, 124, 135
Stoddard, Wm. O., 170, 188, 196, 199
Sumner, Charles, 174, 176, 195, 201
Swett, Leonard, 73, 75, 79
Swisshelm, Jane, 170

Tad Lincoln, 10

Tad Lincoln's Father, 193

Tarbell, Ida M., 13, 43-44, 61, 67, 93,

154
Thompson, Frank G., 189
Todd, Lt., 177
Todd, Robert S., 113, 115
Townsend, Wm. H., 7, 115-116, 145

Villard, Henry, 158, 160, 165

Wade, Senator, 169

Wallace, Mrs. (sister of Mary Lin-
coln), 120

Warren, Dr. Louis A., 7, 24, 43, 47-
48, 54, 60, 62, 69-70, 90, 133-134

Washington Chronicle, 188

Washington Evening Star, 161

Weik, Jesse W., 16-17, 21, 25, 28, 77-
78, 103, 125

Welles, Gideon, 173

White, Horace, 107

Whitney, Henry C, 20, 143

Wilson, Woodrow, 43, 54

Wood, Mayor, 161

Woods, Wm., 63

(continued from front flap)

coin was, if anything, a cut above the
usual for his time and his place.

In the same way, historians and biogra-
phers have felt the need of what the slick
magazines call a love interest in Lincoln's
early life. They have emphasized his rela
tion with Ann Rutledge to the point
where his later marriage with Mary Todd
seems to have been a marriage of con-
venience. This was never the case, Mr.
Lewis shows.

And the third denigration has been of
Mary Todd herself. Mr. Lewis does not
deny the fact that Mary Todd had her
difficult side. He does show that she was
no shrew and no vixen, however, and that
Lincoln was in the main happy with her
and so valued their life together that
always he went to her, first, with any new
honor that came to him.

LEGENDS THAT LIBEL LINCOLN is there-
fore the basis for a truer picture of a great
man. It also is an example of shrewd de-
tective work in the field of history, and
the payment of a debt long owed the
Great Emancipator by those who have
followed him.

RINEHART & COMPANY, INC.

New York Toronto

Foto by W. Hurley Ashby, F.R.P.S.

MONTGOMERY LEWIS

Montgomery Lewis was born, raised, and has lived in
Indianapolis, Indiana all his life. He attended the public
schools and entered Harvard College in 1907. He graduated
with an A.B. in 1911.

He returned to Indianapolis and was associated with his
father in the planning and development of Brendonwood, a
suburban residential area. It is regarded throughout the
country as an outstanding example of residential planning.

In 1932 he was elected President of State National Securi-
ties Corporation, a company organized at that time to engage
in the general investment and insurance business. Mr. Lewis
has been with the company ever since and is now President
and Treasurer.

His interest in Lincoln dates back to his boyhood when he
listened to the stories his father told of his childhood during
the Civil War. Mr. Lewis has a collection of 150 to 200
volumes on Lincoln and as many pamphlets.

He is a member of the Indianapolis Literary Club and has
been president of the club this past year.

RINEHART & COMPANY, INC.

232 Madison Avenue New York 16, N. Y.